Mixing of Souls
by Jman85
Summary: Kyubi attempts his escape while Naruto's hurting emotionally. The incident left Naruto, changed. See how everyone deals with his demonic side, and why is Sakura trying to follow him? NaruSaku, rated M for language, violence, and possible sexual themes.
1. Chapter 1: Mixing of Souls

I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters herein. The storyline however, is all MINE!

"Hello" character speech  
'Hello' character though  
HELLO character yelling or emphasizing a statement  
_**Hello **_Kyubi speech

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Chapter 1: Mixing of Souls

"What are you talking about Naruto!? I've told you to stop asking me out on a date. I'm not interested! Can't you get that through your thick skull!? Stop bugging me, you annoying little pain in the ass!" The pink haired young woman glared at the young man, a huff of indignation in her voice. This was the fourth time this week alone he'd asked her on a date, and she'd finally had enough.

"Come on Sakura, why can't you just go out with me one time? Do I annoy you so much you can't even just go get some food together?"

"YES!" she screamed. "Naruto, you have to be the most annoying person I've ever met in my life! I'm not interested, okay! Let me spell it out for you. GO AWAY! Right now I'd like nothing more than to put my fist through your face. If I see you again in the next week, I swear by all that's holy I'll wring your neck! I hate you, now go the FUCK away!" she yelled some more, storming away huffing loudly.

Naruto, the young man in question, stood there watching his crushes' back recede in the distance, tears threatening to pour down his face. _'Does she really hate me?'_He slunk away, retreating back to his run down apartment to try to repair his damaged emotions. Sakura had told him off before, but she'd never told him she hated him before, and it stung him on several levels. He left his body on auto-pilot, letting his body take care of itself as he allowed his mind to recede into a turmoil of emotional rejection and self loathing. He never remembered eating dinner, taking a shower, or for that matter even going to sleep.

At some point Naruto woke up, stabbing pain coursing through his mid section like nothing he'd ever felt before. A ragged gasp escaped his lips as he curled into the fetal position. It felt as if a machete had been driven through his stomach and then turned, ripping him open even more. In a haze he lifted his sleep shirt up, seeing the ragged seal placed by his father almost 17 years ago, glowing in an angry red light.

His mind screamed internally. _'KYUBI! What in the blazing blue FUCK are you doing you damn fox!' _Naruto could feel the seal weakening, the demon forcing it's way past the bars which made up it's cage for over one and a half decades.

_**I've told you many times before Kit, I will not be contained! I will tear my way out of you and then wipe this village from the face of the Earth for imprisoning me! I WILL NOT BE CONTAINED!**_

Naruto felt another stabbing pain, as yet another section of the seal on his stomach was torn away, leaving Naruto whimpering in pain. 'I can't lose to this beast of a demon!' he thought. 'If I do nothing else, I MUST beat Kyubi one way or another.' On shaking limbs, Naruto managed to crawl toward his weapon pack. Before he made it, another wave of excruciating pain erupted from his stomach. He felt as if Hell itself was embedded in his body, trying to consume his body and mind. He picked up a wicked looking kunai, one designed specifically for assassinations, and thrust the blade deeply into his stomach, right in the middle of the seal pattern.

'_If Sakura hates me, I'll remove her reason. However, I RUFUSE, to let you get out of me and threaten her and the rest of this world demon! I'll die, and you'll die with me!' _Naruto pulled the blade out before he plunged it back into his side, hitting one of his kidneys. Again, the kunai came out, before puncturing a lung. Another stab, another organ hit, until Naruto was beyond feeling pain. One final thrust of the kunai and it would all be over. He looked down at the blade, bright red, dripping with his life blood. He aimed the small knife between a pair of ribs, toward the center of his chest at the last organ he had that wasn't damaged, but which hurt more than any other. "Good bye, Sakura-Chan." he said weakly, and then pulled the blade through his body, one last time.

With the internal injuries his body had sustained, Naruto was beyond his senses. He felt the demon raging within him, and could feel it's fear. Kyubi was fighting to heal Narutos' body, even as the demon struggled to break through the final two layers of the seal holding it in its prison. However, the boys' body was already shutting down, unable to function with almost every vital organ damaged either severely, if not utterly destroyed. '_Heh, the beast can rage all it wants, he can't heal the willing dead' _was Narutos' final thought before blackness took him.

Kyubi was fighting the dying body every second, but each time it tried to focus on breaking out of the seal, the body shut down faster than it could have broken out. Kyubi, the great Nine-Tailed Fox demon, for the first time in his existence, was looking death in the face. _**No, I won't go out like this! Beaten by a mere mortal, and a kit at that!**_In a snarl of hatred, Kyubi did the one thing he could think of to save his life, and by extension his killer.

With a grunt of effort Kyubi grabbed Naruto's soul, wrenching it away from death itself before pulling the soul toward himself, wrapping his body around the soul of his prisoner/executioner. In a grunt of frustration, rage, hatred, fear, and a drive to live, Kyubi forced all his power into the soul as he drew power from Naruto's soul, mixing his essence with Naruto. Two minds became one as the experiences of both human and demon molded into a single selective consciousness.

The combined power from Kyubi and Naruto fused Naruto's body, forcing the body to heal even as tails of chakra formed on his body. First one, then two more, then a forth, until nine blood red tails trailed behind his body, each twitching in unfelt pain from the bodily transformation. His fingernails and toe nails grew, sharpening and hardening until they could puncture through even the hardest of armor. Naruto's unseen eyes molded away, replaced by ones both deepest red and darkest Cerulean, left eye red on top with blue on bottom, whereas his right eye was an opposite of his left, vertical slits for pupils. His teeth had sharpened, not to the point of fox teeth but sharper than any normal humans'. Small chakra fox ears formed on his head, leaning backward but capable of pointing any direction.

In a blinding flash of power and light, the Chakra appendages that had sprouted around Naruto's body became flesh and blood, as if they had always been a part of him. The sudden drain of energy from the transformation was enough to finally quell the being they had before. Only time would tell if the new being would be like Naruto, or Kyubi.

Naruto slowly woke up, vision slowly coming into focus as his vivid dream cleared away. 'Man, where in the hell did that dream come from?' He stretched out, feeling his joints popping loudly, a yawn escaping his lips. "That was the worst nightmare I've ever had." he said in a feral voice. "What the…? What's wrong with my voice?" He felt an odd sensation coming from somewhere behind him, as if he had many hands writhing behind him in his sudden jolt of emotion. With a gulp, he turned his head to stare behind him, seeing the nine blood red tails waving around. "WHAT!?" he screamed, causing the entire apartment complex to shake.

Naruto bolted upright, suddenly appearing before his mirror to gaze horror-struck at his reflection. 'No, no, noooo! What in the hell happened to me!' _'KYUBI! Damn it you stupid fox, what in the hell did you do to me!?' _The demon didn't answer. _'ANSWER ME DAMN YOU!'_ Still nothing. "I don't believe this. First I get treated like a demon just cause one was sealed in me, now it looks like I've BECOME one. Great, just FUCKING AWESOME!"

_**Shut up you stupid kit, I'm trying to sleep here!**_Naruto stopped short, looking around for the voice he'd heard. _**If you're looking for me kit, all you need to do it look into the mirror.**_

"Fox, you're NOT being funny right now. What in the hell did you do to me?!" Naruto looked back into the mirror, taking in his eyes, fox ears, fangs, and tails. "Why do I look like a fox human hybrid?"

_**No kit, you should ask the question, 'why did I try to kill myself last night and force this on myself'. This is what happens when a demon faces it's destruction, we do things we'd normally never even think about. In your case, I merged with you to save both our lives.**_ The demon chuckled in Naruto's mind. _**How's it feel to become what you were always feared to be Kit? You are now, at least partially, a demon. **_The fox laughed maniacally.

With a dejected sigh, Naruto looked away from the mirror, as tears formed in his eyes. "I'd have rather died than be mixed with the likes of you. Even now, I can feel the power coursing through my body, yearning to escape. Your anger and rage, hate and despair, it's eating away at me. Your memories, haunting in their sheer vastness, are trying to poison me to humanity." His eyes hardened. "I WILL NOT LOSE TO YOU!"

Naruto reared back, an over head chop of his fist colliding with the floor causing the entire building to shake, a hole forming from his room all the way to the ground level. It was too much for Naruto, and he howled at the early morning sun. Without bothering to fix the apartment or collecting his things, Naruto flash stepped to the Hokage Tower, entering Tsunades' office to find her still past out on her desk.

"Tsunade!" he rasped, his voice as feral as ever. Her eyes popped open, taking in the appearance of the being before her before she even recognized him. She was in a defensive fighting stance before his voice even fully registered to her. "Tsunade, it's me! Naruto!"

She stopped, peering defensively at the young man before her. "Naruto? What in the name of Kami happened to you!?"

He shook his head sadly. "Long story short, Kyubi made his attempt at freedom last night. I couldn't stop him, so I did the only thing I could think of to stop him. I tried to kill myself." Tsunade gasped at him, eyes wide. He narrated how he'd stabbed himself repeatedly with a kunai, before he finally lost consciousness. "I've talked a little with my Kyubi side since I woke up. I couldn't heal myself, and he wasn't able to break out before I would have died, so he did the only thing he could to survive. He merged his soul and power with mine as I died. It's caused some… changes to me." He grunted in pain, a wave of killing intent from Kyubi escaping before Naruto clamped back down on the demon.

"We merged, I'm as much Kyubi as he is me now. Tsunade, I can't stay here anymore. I can barely hold him back right now, he still wants the destroy this village, and I don't know if I can stop him. I'm leaving, don't try to stop me."

Naruto and Tsunade were both startled by the door opening, a pink haired girl walking in a foot before coming to a sudden stop, her gaze locked onto Naruto. Upon seeing the girl who had broken his heart, on more occasions than the being could remember, the demon side lost it, raging within him to destroy the cause of it's pain. Much like a wounded animal, the boy slunk away from the girl, eyes glaring murderously at her as a vicious growl escaped his lips. "Sakura, get out of here!" yelled Tsunade, but she was too late.

Naruto lunged forward, a hand wrapping around the girls' neck, pinning her to the wall, claws threatening to tear her throat out. "You!" he said, voice deepening with murderous rage dripping from each syllable. "I trusted you, I bled for you, I nearly died for you, and how did you repay me!? You tell me you hate me, threat me, hit me, spit on my feelings!" His hand tightened even more, scarlet blood trickling down her neck from where his claws had broken the skin. "I loved you! I sacrificed my very life for you, my humanity! I tried to kill myself last night so the Kyubi wouldn't escape his sealed prison, and what do I get, but to become that which I was feared as? I'm no longer the container of Kyubi, I'm a mixture of Kyubi and Naruto, a half demon freak!" His hand loosened, allowing her to finally breath.

"Tsunade!" he yelled, his eyes never leaving Sakura's now tear stained ones. "I'm leaving. As long as I'm in control, Kyubi will never harm this village. However, I suggest you prepare for the worst. I might not always be in control." His eyes lost some of their anger, his hand releasing Sakura's neck. "As for you," he said, then turned away from her, not seeing her hand reach out to grab him. "I'm through with you Sakura. Don't follow me, don't look for me. Don't even think about me. You shouldn't have any problems with that, after all you 'hate' me, right?"

He made a punching motion at the far wall, sending a shockwave across the room and through the wall before disappearing through the hole, not even looking back at the two crying females. One cried for the son she was losing, the other for her outburst of anger, which she only now realized how bad a mistake it was. "Naruto, I'm sorry! NARUTOOOOOOOOOO!" The scream of anguish was heard throughout the entire village, but fell on his deaf ears as he ran from the village he called home, Konoha.

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1 Year later

A man slunk through the shadows, stalking a man wearing a black robe, red clouds dotting its surface. The mans' breathing was labored from running, his blood loss compounding his predicament. He didn't know what kind of man the person was who had attacked him and his comrades. The man wasn't human, _couldn't_ be human the way he'd fought. Attack after attack from the renegade group hit the man, only to see his wounds regenerate as fast as they would happen. It only seemed to piss the being off.

Hidan had attempted to cut the guys head off with his weapon, foregoing his normal rituals of pain. His weapon had been stopped dead by the beings' open palm! Kakuze had landed a punch right to the guys' face, but it had barely even moved his head and only seemed to amuse the guy! _'Pain, Konan, Zetsu, Kisame; all of them were dead! How could one man take on four of the most powerful ninja alive, much less at the same time? It shouldn't be possible! These men captured Jinchuuriki for sport!'_ "How could one man possess such power!" Itachi yelled to no one in particular.

"When a man is no longer human." a soft voice spoke. Itachi's blood ran cold as ice, his body locked up in fear. "Farewell Akatsuki, you will not be missed." With that the man struck, driving his hand through Itachi's back before grabbing a section of his spine, ripping the bone and nerve column in his hand out of his back. Beyond pain, Itachi fell to the ground, blood running down from the corner of his mouth. An axe kick to the head later, Itachi lay dead on the ground.

His attacker, a tall blond-haired man, looked up at the sky howling in triumph. He had finally removed the organization that had hunted him since the age of fifteen. _About damn time Kit! You should have just finished the guy off hours ago, not run up and down the countryside after him!_

The blond chuckled inwardly. "Where's the fun in that? I'd have thought you liked the time out of your cage. Besides, he deserved it anyway." The mans' tails became visible, the genjetsu hiding his fox-like features being dropped for the first time in hours. "Ah that's more like it." One of Naruto's tails wrapped around Itachi's body, ensuring it wouldn't be dropped before Naruto turned south-east. "I'm gonna go collect those rings and headbands. Jiraiya didn't die fighting these guys for nothing. Akatsuki won't ever form again, I'll see to that!" His voice dropped an octave, becoming even more feral than normal.

_**Kit, there's a ninja following us, about two hundred yards behind us.**_ The fox released a predatory chuckle. _**Wanna have some fun?**_

Naruto sent his senses behind him, finally noticing the ninja. _'Wood element, huh so I guess Yamoto finally came.'_"Naw, he's no threat to us. He's a Konoha Anbu, no big deal. I'll meet him before we leave the area. First things' first…" Naruto disappeared, appearing behind another ninja two miles away from where he was before. "I thought I'd told you not to follow me." Before the ninja could even turn toward his voice, he was once again gone.

The ninja, a pink haired kunoichi, looked around her, trying to find the owner of the voice she had searched for the last year. _'Naruto, please just stop moving long enough for me to see you!' _She hugged herself, the distinct feeling that she was being watched from somewhere imposing itself upon her. "I just want to apologize." she mumbled to herself. "Is that too much to ask for Naruto?' She set back out, wandering in the direction of Yamoto and the rest of her spread out team.

A clone appeared before Yamoto, the familiar blond haired man standing tall and proud, his headband still tied across his forehead. "I take it you noticed we were watching the fight?" Naruto just nodded. "Thought so, I noticed a few times when you seemed to look right at our hiding spot. And to think I call myself an Anbu?!" the man chuckled. "Well Naruto, what are you going to do now? Are you ready to face your past, or are you just going to keep running from it?"

Naruto tilted his head, an amused expression on his face, feral grin aimed at the taller Anbu. "Tsk tsk Yamoto, you should know by now that reverse psychology doesn't work on me. Why is 'she' following me still? Does she want to spit in my face once again, or does she simply have a death wish?" Naruto released a snarl of anger, releasing a small blast of energy at a hundred foot tall tree, reducing it to splinters in a massive explosive blast. If I wanted to see you people, I know where to find you. Stop looking for me."

Naruto turned away, walking a few paces before Yamoto stopped him with a question. "Is that why you still watch her? You wish us to stop looking for you, and yet you still watch her. You forget Naruto, I can sense when you're nearby. I know you've been in Konoha in the last year, and I know where you've been. A certain roof top overlooking a certain pink haired woman's apartment if I do say so. You wish to be left alone and yet you watch us when you don't have to. Most people want you back Naruto. Your friends, your comrades, the Hokage, Konohamaru and his team, almost everyone. The few that don't want you back don't even matter, people want you back in Konoha. You brought many people a sense of peace, knowing that someone with your strength and determination watched over them. Come back with us Naruto!"

"Yamoto, if I could then I would. Look at me, I don't believe most of the village would accept me knowing I had become part of what they'd always shunned me for being. I don't just look like a demon, I AM one Yamoto. I'm just as much demon as I am human, with all the same impulses the Kyubi had before he was sealed away." He looked back at Yamoto. "There are times I can almost not control my impulses, urges to kill. Look at what I did to Itachi." He pulled a tail back, revealing the battered and broken body of the Uchiha. "That was a whim killing. I could have let the man go, or simply crushed him so fast he wouldn't have suffered. Instead I let him suffer in pain and fear for hours, HOURS, before I finally killed him." Naruto's eyes meet Yamoto's. "Do you honestly think the village would accept me after they knew I did that on a WHIM!?"

Yamoto gave a heavy sigh. "No one is perfect Naruto. We've all been there at times, wanting to see people suffer for the things they've done to us. Do you control the Kyubi, or do you let it control you? That, is the question here. The fact that you made your argument tells me you're not a demon. You care, Naruto, that's what makes you different." Yamoto looked at the young man steadily. "You might not think yourself human anymore, but we know you better Naruto. You're more human than most of us." Yamoto turned toward an approaching ninja. "Just think about it Naruto. You're not alone, and please talk with her. She's been beating herself up as it is as I'm sure you know." With that, Yamoto left toward the ninja, meeting them away from Naruto to give him time away.

Naruto looked back at the small group of ninja, a sense of homesickness overtaking him. Kiba and Akamaru, Neji, Tenten, Yamoto, and Sakura, all looking for him. He could remember missions with them all, laughter and tears, hardships and trials. Good memories, and bad, like Neji in his self centered faze bitching about fate. Tenten ignoring him, telling him to shut up or threatening to beat him into a bloody pulp during one particular mission into Wave. Yamoto during Team 7's last try to get Sasuke back, having to seal away the Kyubi's power after Naruto's fight with Orochimaru.

Lastly, there was Sakura. The hundreds of times in their early careers as ninja, degrading him as she fan-girled over Sasuke, hitting him over the head when he got exited, or said something she didn't like; each memory drove a nail through his heart, aching for when life was that simple. That time she fell asleep, her head resting on his shoulder after a long day as he tried to not even breath, for fear of it waking her. That time she had agreed to go get some ramen with him, so long as he paid. The one occasion she, Naruto, and Sasuke all laid out on the ground, peering up at the night sky, laughter filling the air. All the memories assaulted his mind, letting him relive both the good and the bad.

_**I say you just kill them all and be done with it. Let me take over for awhile, I'll solve your, problem.** _His demonic side chuckled darkly, bloodshed on it's mind.

'_Tsk, you can't kill a lamb Kyubi, shut the fuck up and leave me alone.' _Kyubi snarled in their head, but said no more. Naruto sighed to himself. _'I just KNOW this is going be bite me in the ass later.'_he thought. With that he ran off to ghost behind the ninja team which had already started back toward Konoha.

The group of ninja sulked back, lacking the energy or drive to move at anything faster than a snails' pace compared to their normal travel speeds. They had once again failed to bring Naruto back. The team had even interacted with him, but the blond-haired man was being a stubborn pain in the ass. Kiba and Neji for their parts were more annoyed than anything else. Tenten didn't seem too fazed by the outcome, but those that knew her well could see the signs of disappointment on her face. Yamoto was a blank mask, much like his old Anbu mask.

Sakura, on the other hand, was still hurting inside. The untouched tear tracks running down her face showed her lack of concern. She was getting to the point where she just no longer cared about anything. The one person she could have depended on had turned on her, all because she couldn't keep her dumb ass mouth shut. She thought back to one year ago, thinking about the events that shattered her life.

Flashback

Sakura had been sitting at home, going over some medical jutsu books Tsunade had given her to study most of the day. Her head hurt from the sheer volume of medical data she was trying to absorb. The sweltering heat wasn't helping her mood any either. She got up to stretch, working the kinks out of her back and legs before walking into her kitchen. She had a craving for some sushi but after examining her kitchen stock, found she was out of the needed ingredients. _'Peachy, well I guess I'm heading out for food.' _she thought.

A quick change of clothes to make her more presentable, and she departed. Just as she turned to lock the door she remembered she had forgotten her keys. After looking for them for several minutes she finally wrote them off. _'I'll just break in later, no big deal.' _When she turned out the light and tried to feel her way to the door she stumbled on the corner of her Japanese style tea table, causing her a break one of her small toes and land awkwardly on her left knee. A savage hiss of pain escaped her lips as she bent to the task of healing the minor, but painful, injuries.

By the time she was done she made her way to her favorite restaurant, only to see it had closed some minutes earlier. "Damn it, are you kidding me!? Just my luck." She turned to walk back to her apartment when she suddenly heard someone shout, "SAKURA-CHAN!", down the street from her. _'Oh God, I'm REALLY not in the mood for this.'_ She turned to see the blond haired young man run up to her. Before she could get in two words he'd asked her five questions, firing them off so quickly she couldn't even keep track of them.

She finally interrupted him after over a minute, telling him she was just leaving. He didn't seem to take the hint, for he just followed her as she walked away. "Naruto, can you please just… shut up for once? I haven't really had a good day and you're not helping here."

Naruto cocked his head to the side as if contemplating her words. Suddenly a grin split his face, an odd chuckle escaping his mouth. "You know Sakura-Chan, I can get ya some food, we can call it a date! What do you say?"

Without missing a beat Sakura refused. "I'm REALLY not in the mood for this right now Naruto."

"Ahh, come on Sakura-Chan, my treat?" He still persisted, Sakura hunching up her shoulders in frustration.

"No" Her voice was deadly calm, belying her annoyance.

"But Saku…" was as far as he got.

"What are you talking about Naruto!? I've told you to stop asking me out on a date. I'm not interested! Can't you get that through your thick skull!? Stop bugging me, you annoying little pain in the ass!" The pink haired young woman glared at the young man, a huff of indignation in her voice. This was the fourth time this week alone he'd asked her on a date, and she'd finally had enough.

"Come on Sakura, why can't you just go out with me one time? Do I annoy you so much you can't even just go get some food together?"

"YES!" she screamed. "Naruto, you have to be the most annoying person I've ever met in my life! I'm not interested, okay! Let me spell it out for you. GO AWAY! Right now I'd like nothing more than to put my fist through your face. If I see you again in the next week, I swear by all that's holy I'll wring your neck! I hate you, now go the FUCK away!" she yelled some more, storming away huffing loudly.

She didn't see the crushed look on his face, so consumed in her anger at the moment. She regretted yelling at him, and regretted saying she hated him even more, but was too proud to apologize, at least for now. _'I'll apologize tomorrow after we've both slept on it. Ahh, sleep…' _

End Flashback

The next time Sakura had seen him was in Tsunade's office, red tails writhing behind him, blue and red eyes enraged. She still remembered the hatred in his eyes as he stared into her jade orbs. That look of utter distrust and hate had haunted her very dreams since then. She rarely went a night without some nightmare waking her up in the throes of anguish.

'_I drove away one of the few people that I can say I loved, all because of me being a self-righteous bitch.'_Her shoulders slumped, a movement not missed by any of her current team mates. That first month after he'd left, she almost wished for death. She had no parents, both her team mates had left, and her own guilt forcibly consumed her mind. Her one glimmer of hope had been that Naruto would come back, or at least visit her, let her try to explain herself and beg his forgiveness.

'_Even if he doesn't come back, I still want, no, NEED his forgiveness!'_ Tears once again ran down her face, remembering the words he'd spoken to her out in the wilderness just days ago.

'_I thought I told you not to follow me.' _he'd said, voice as cold as a mountain stream in winter. Sakura was so caught up in her mental anguish she almost ran past her team, whom had all stopped on the road. If not for Neji, she would have. "What is it Yamoto-Taichou?"

The Jonin looked ahead, uncertainty in his eyes. "We seem to have a visitor." he motioned forward on the road, where everyone saw a tall man garbed in a black cloak, hood covering his head and masking his face. The man walked forward, emitting waves of killer intent. All five ninja went on guard, ready in case an attack came. The man stopped twenty yards away, laughing loudly enough for the group to hear him.

"If I wanted you all dead, you'd have been dead before you knew I was here." His head came up, displaying red and blue eyes to the group. Everyone went into full guard mode, except Sakura. Those eyes were… strangely familiar, but she could not place them for some reason. A bag appeared in his hand, which he tossed toward Yamoto, it's contents jingling as metal struck metal. "That's my final gift to Konoha, I suggest you take them to Tsunade and have them destroyed." The man turned to face Konoha, the main gate only a few miles distance away.

"Everyone leave, except you Pinky." An anger vein immediately formed on her forehead, eyes shown in anger.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!? WHO IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ASSHOLE!" The man just stood there, seemingly unaffected by her rant. "HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU!" She stomped toward the taller man, heedless of her team mates' warning calls. When she was within ten feet of the man, he turned toward her aloofly, releasing his entire range of murderous killing intent upon the girl. She froze, completely knocked senseless by the sudden change in the man.

Speaking softly, the man said, "Don't think for one minute I can't or won't kill you Sakura. You've given me more than enough reasons to want too." The man pulled his hood back, revealing a shock a wild blond hair, streaked with red. Speaking louder, he said to the other ninja, "I'm here to talk with her, not you guys. Get outta here, she'll be following you shortly." His eyes had never left hers, even when his killing intent caused her knees to give out, making her drop to the ground on her backside.

The other ninja made to try and speak, but he broke eye contact with the girl before him long enough to stare at them all, daring them to go against his wishes. None of them managed to hold his stare for more than a couple seconds before breaking eye contact. One by one, they shuffled past him and continued down the road toward the village. Yamoto was the last to go, eying Naruto for a brief minute. Guessing his unspoken request, Naruto said, "I promise, I won't kill her or unduly harm her." Naruto had since locked eyes with the girl before him, and his words caused her to swallow convulsively. With that, Yamoto left the pair alone.

She didn't know what to do, where to start, or even how to act. Naruto, the boy that used to follow her around, always asking her out and seeking her approval, had become a man standing before her. The only thing she could feel from him now was anger and pain; both had been forced there because of her. She buried her face in her hands, sobs wracking her body as her mind traveled a mile a minute. "You must really h-hate me n-now, huh?"

His head cocked to the side, examining her more but still saying nothing. He took off his cloak, dropping the genjutsu hiding his appearance from her. When she took in his transformation, she shuddered once more. "I guess that's a-a yes." She finally stood up, eyes averted from him. "For what it's worth, I don't hate you. I never did. My anger got the best of me and, I just lost it." She turned away from him, feeling his eyes bore into her back. "I know it doesn't change anything, but I'm, I'm sorry." Her head hung, arms loose by her side as tears flooded her eyes.

A warm feeling seemed to surround her, conforming to her back. Something was wrapped around her waist. Her eyes opened. _'Arms? Wha, what are arms around me for?' _She finally noticed the hands, long razor sharp claws visible. A shudder ran through her back. _'So this is how it ends huh? Murdered by my own ex-team mate, miles from home, with no family and only a few friends that would miss me. A fitting end for a life as messed up as mine.' _Sakura counted the seconds, hoping he'd end it quickly. After a minute she was getting confused. By the second minute she was down right concerned.

"Please Naruto, don't drag this out. If you're going to do it, please grant me this one request and end it swiftly."

His chest pressed into her back, giving her body his warmth. He leaned his head low, lips an inch away from her ear. "End what? I'm just getting comfortable Forehead."

At the nickname, she froze. 'Did, did he just call me Forehead? Oh HELL no!' She spun in his arms, her right arm reared back and ready to strike him with all her strength, only for her fist to meet his open palm, and he held firm.

"Better, that's the Sakura-Chan I remember." She continued to struggle with him, trying to land a blow on his body but could not despite their closeness. Finally she gave up, letting her arms fall back to their sides. "Now, are you ready to talk or do you want to keep pouting like a five year old?" he asked her.

'_I don't know, I might not mind wrestling with you some more.' _she thought, before shaking her head. "I don't believe you called me Forehead like that, you big jerk." She pulled her arm back, elbowing him in the gut.

"Meh, you needed a good slap or two to get you outta that depression, and I'm not going to slap you around for something like that."

She paused at his words, thinking them through. _'Does that mean he'd slap me around for something else? What the hell!?' _"Jerk!" she called him. Her tone mellowed out somewhat. "I really am sorry I told you all that stuff. I wish I could go back and do it differently." Her head came forward, resting on his wide chest as she took in his scent. He smelled like pine trees, fresh rainfall, and a light hint of coppery blood.

She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his for once without finding any killing intent behind them. "Can you forgive me?

Naruto sighed, his eyes turned away from the girl in his arms. "I forgave you, at least in my head, long ago. My heart however, still doesn't know what to think.' His eyes closed, shut tightly. "I didn't come here to tell you I'm coming back to Konoha. I don't know if I ever will, and I might come back next week." His eyes went back to Sakura's, seeing moisture form once again in her eyes. "I want you to know that I do forgive you Sakura. You don't need to worry about that anymore."

Her eyes shut, her unshed tears threatening to fall down her face. "Thank you Naruto-kun. I wish there was some way I could make my mistakes up to you." Sakura rested her head upon his chest, taking in his comforting scent as she sighed in contentment, her mind totally at ease for the first time in over a year.

A comfortable silence descended on the pair. Minutes dragged on, until they had been standing there for nearly an hour, simply enjoying each others' company. Naruto inhaled her scent one last time, before his arms loosened from Sakura's body. "I'm sorry Sakura, but I need to go." Her arms only tightened around him, her answer obvious.

"I don't want to let go!" she said, quite conviction in her voice. "I spent a year without even seeing you. I don't want to experience that again Naruto!" Her eyes came up to meet his, piercing green eyes meeting his blue/red eyes with their sadness. "Don't make me experience that again, please!" Her arms tightened even more, squeezing him so much he had trouble breathing.

"Sakura!" he wheezed. "Loosen up woman! I can't breath!" Her arms let up on their pressure somewhat, but not letting go by much. "I won't promise you I'll be back too soon. I've learned to not make promises as much as I used to. However," he said, holding a finger up for her to see, "I will be back, if for nothing else than to see you." His eyes bored into hers. "You have always been one of my reasons to live on. You might not recognize it, but you're still VERY special to me. I'll come back, if only because you give me the strength to withstand my demonic side." He bent over her, his lips brushing her cheek. "I love you."

With that, he disappeared, leaving a suddenly chilled Sakura alone upon the road. His words struck a cord in her, forcing her to look into her heart. 'He loves me… after all this time, he still loves me!' she thought to herself. She walked toward the main gate to Konoha, missing Naruto already. 'Hurry back Naruto, I'll be waiting.' Her lips formed into a gentle smile for the first time in months.

"I love you Naruto-kun. Come back to me soon!" she whispered.


	2. Chapter 2: Fighting to Survive

I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters herein. The storyline however, is all MINE!

"Hello" character speech  
'Hello' character though  
HELLO character yelling or emphasizing a statement/word  
_**Hello**_ Demon speech

* * *

Chapter 2 Fighting to Survive

Chakra spiked in a hail of anger as Kyubi made his displeasure known. The fight for control had been going on for quite some time now, but Naruto was holding out so. "Damn it fox! What in the hell are you trying to prove, that you can put us through a lot of pain!?"

He grunted, falling to a knee once again. The demon howled in anger, a blood-curdling roar that sent the animals nearby running in panic. **_"Why didn't you just kill them you baka! You want their blood, I can smell the wish for revenge on you, even now! Go back to that pathetic village and wipe it out, or so help me Kami I'l…"_**

"You'll what! You forget you beast, I'm in control right now! I will NOT allow you to hurt my precious people! They're not perfect, but then again who is? Look at us, you think we're perfect?"

_**"I WAS perfect you fucking brat!"**_

"Yet there you were, sealed inside a lowly human. A human that held you at bay for almost two DECADES! Go argue your case to someone who cares fox." With that, Naruto forced his demonic side down, suppressing it once more. He fell to the ground, body dripping with sweat as his forehead pressed into the dirt under him.

'Damn, that was harder than before.' he thought. 'I can't lose to this, Kami. I refuse to lose my humanity!' He lurched up, eyes facing the sky. "I WILL NOT LOSE!" he screamed, his voice piercing the heavens with his open defiance of Fate. His insolence complete, he collapsed back to the ground, both mentally and physically drained.

* * *

Sakura's eyes opened, her ears picking up the sound of rain pattering on her bedroom window quietly. Her senses were alert, searching for a sound or disturbance that would explain her sudden wakefulness. A chill ran down her back, the feeling of being watched once again upon her.

She could almost feel her watchers' anger and loathing, but she had no idea where this feeling was coming from. She exhaled slowly, attempting to clam her nerves. 'What is this I keep feeling? Why does it hate me so much?' she asked herself, unable to produce any semblance of an answer. She rolled over, her head propped up on her left arm as she sought a more comfortable position for sleep.

Before she could even get fully comfortable however, she felt her watchers' anger spike, causing her to sit up fully. Nothing caught her attention during her first observation of her black room, however during her second sweep she noticed a large black shadow in the corner. At first she thought her eyes were just playing tricks on her, but the shadow shifted slightly, moving back and forth in a slow rhythm.

Her voice caught in her throat, unsure if she should confront the invader. In her sleep raddled mind, she figured it was probably some genin playing a poorly thought out joke. Her confidence returning, she grabbed a kunai from under her mattress. "I suggest you get out of here before I make you regret breaking into my house." she said, voice deadly calm.

Two blood red orbs appeared in the corner. A low rumble came from the corner, suddenly causing the chunin to swallow hard. _**"You, suggessst?" **_came a rasping, serpent-like voice. Those eyes seemed to regard her with disinterest at most

"_**He remains imprisoned, for the likessss of you?" **_The being let out a laugh that sounded like a short series of hisses. _**"The great Kyubi, imprisssoned by a mere human for one sssuch asss yourssssself." **_

The beast, if it was in fact one, appeared right in Sakura's face, heat rediating from it's body as it curled around her, constricting her slowly. She tried to stab at the thing, but her kunai hit flesh it could not puncture. She added more and more force, trying to harm the creature slowly suffocating her. Finally she added enough chakra in her swing to allow the blade through it's hide, causing it to hiss in pain before uncoiling from her.

"_**A messssage you should give him. The otherssss, have come, and we are here to ssssstay. Kyubi isss no longer our massster. We sserve another!" **_With that declaration, the shadowy thing dissolved into the surrounding blackness, leaving a distraught Sakura panting for breath. Whatever it was that had attacked her, she could only think of one thing. 'That… thing, wasn't human…'

* * *

Onihebi wasn't having a good day. The snake-like being gripped its side, trying to staunch the blood that pink haired human bitch had drawn. Black ooze slipped past its short fingers as it hissed in surprising pain. _**"That bitch ssshall pay for thisss."**_ it said to itself.

"You got careless I see." The snake turned to face the speaker, an angry retort upon it's scaly lips before it realized who the speaker was. It's body language immediately became one of supplication to the new arrival. "Such a simple task, and you couldn't even complete it? Now how does this look to the others?"

Onihebi snorted in disgust. _**"Like I care about the otherssss! I got carelessss of my prey, and it bit me." **_The demon looked toward its' summoner. _**"I ssshall not fail you again."**_

The other being nodded his head in agreement. "In deed, you won't." Faster that the snake demon could react, the man lashed his hand through the snakes' throat, before fingers found their mark and surrounded a small medallion within it. The bloodied hand pulled out of the demon, it's eyes full of unrestrained terror at the bloody trinket in it's leaders' hand. "I won't accept failure from my pawns." he said coolly, before snapping the medallion in half.

Onihebi stared in terror at the broken halves of it's soul container, before the agony of his shattered soul hit his body. It writhed in that exquisite torture for what seemed like forever to the other demons watching nearby, but they would not, COULD not, help it. It's body eventually stopped moving, breaking down in seconds before dissolving the ground it's corpse touched in a hiss of acidic decay.

"Let that be a lesson to you all. I expect success, nothing less." The man's voice hadn't raised one bit, but the surrounding demons heard the implied threat. This man, whoever he was, terrified them all. The man walked away, leaving the demonic entities to their tasks, his orange masked face hiding everything except a single red eye with three comma's wrapped around his pupil.

* * *

Naruto awoke with a start, his thoughts matching from both personalities. "He's here." Not knowing where the thought had come from, Naruto looked into his demonic memories in search of answers. "Oi, fox! Who's 'here'" he exclaimed.

Kyubi, for his part, merely shook his head in exasperation. _**"Obviously our memories didn't mix as well as I'd thought. Either that, or you're just that hopeless kit." **_A dark chuckle followed the demon's statement. _**"The master of the Underworld is here. Emma-o, or as you humans call him Anima, is starting to make his move." **_The Kyubi sighed heavily. _**"Kit, we need to get outta here, and I mean fast. Leave the Fire Country, leave the Elemental Country territory completely. I don't care where you go, pick a direction and run until you can't run anymore." **_

Naruto couldn't be sure, but it almost sounded like worry in the demons' voice. "Why should I run from some stupid Emma-o? What kind of lame name is that anyway?" Kyubi snarled at his self afflicted moron of a second half. How could this kit be any more of an idiot?

"_**Kit, let me put it in a way even YOU can understand. Anima is as much a God to demon kind as your villages' Four Hokage would be to an ant. DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOW YOU NUMB NUTS!?" **_Kyubi huffed at the idiotic boy he was melded to, wishing for death rather than be joined to someone this stupid. _**"Anima can literally control demons. Even I fear Him. The last time I met him, I was barely able to escape, and that was with me using ALL my power to resist him. We CAN'T win again something that controls and kills demons for sport jackass!"**_

Naruto looked down at the ground, mumbling a retort that was lost in the wind. "You might fear this, thing, but the problem here is I don't. I lost all reason to fear death when YOU decided we'd be better off as one being. I will NOT run away, not when something out there controls demons that can threaten MY home." Naruto stared at his clawed hands, bringing a tail around him into view. "We aren't a demon, we're only half demon, and that half is the weaker half besides."

At that Kyubi growled, a low rumble that shook their body. _**"Watch it kit, I might not be able to take control yet, but I will one of these days. When that day comes, you'll regret all the times you sassed me."**_ The demon left the threat hanging there.

Naruto just rolled his eyes, "My point was that you said this Anima controls demons. That means, right now he CAN'T control me! Our human side is dominant for now. In theory we should be able to resist his control, if he even can control us since we are what we are. In my opinion Fox, we should just go about like we were before and whatever comes, well, comes." He finished his speech, a small grin on his face as he scratched the back of his head. "Besides, it's been a month since we saw Sakura. I told her I'd come back. I miss her."

Kyubi sighed, wishing he could get this human to see reason. _**"Kit, I hope you realize you're probably going to be the death of us. I can't force you to see reason, so I'm going to just shut down for now. When Anima comes, I suggest you run." **_With that, the demon receded, leaving Naruto to his own thoughts.

'I'm coming back Sakura-chan, wait for me'

* * *

Anbu were scouring the apartment complex, searching every nook and cranny for any trace of the demonic being that had invaded Sakura's home and attacked her. She had taken up sleeping in Ino's apartment, given that she didn't quite feel safe in a place a demon seemed to know where she'd lived. Her thoughts continuously went over what the demon had said. It had claimed the 'others' were no longer controlled by Kyubi. The 'others' had to mean other demons, but why had they come to tell her this?

She was knocked out of her thoughts by a thump on her forehead, a voice ringing out next to her. "Hey Forehead, why the grim face?"

An anger vein popped out on Sakura's head, bulging at the rude interruption of her thoughts. Her head whipped around to glare murder at Ino, who simple stood under that glare with a grin on her face. "What was that for Ino-Pig!?"

The blond-haired Yamanaka glared at Sakura. "You were ignoring me, so I got your attention. I asked you what you were thinking about."

Sakura blanched at Ino, looking away from her again. "I was thinking about that, thing." She sighed heavily. "Something is happening Ino, and I don't know what it is. I can feel it though, in the back of my head I just have this feeling…" She trailed off, leaving silence between the pair.

"What feeling?" Ino asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

Sakura lowered her head, eyes examining the floor. "I get this feeling that something is coming, and we're not prepared for it. Someone is out there, plotting our end. Not just ours, as in the Village, but everyone's." She tossed her head back, groaning in apathy. "Here I am all 'gloom and doom'. I really need to cheer up, don't I?"

Ino smirked at her best friend. "You said it, not me. Anyway, I'm going out with Chouji and Shikamaru, you wanna come?"

The invite sounded rather nice to Sakura at this point. She had been sequestered ever since that demon had attacked her. "Yea, sure Ino. Let me get ready real quick." Sakura walked back to the guest bedroom she stayed in, collecting her purse and weapons' pouch. She had taken to wearing it everywhere if she went outside. Her gear collected, she followed Ino outside, hoping she could take her mind off the events of the last several days. 'Naruto, please come back soon. I need you here right now.'

* * *

A black mass rose up from the ground, watching the blond-haired man jump through the trees. _**'So, the great Kyubi has become a weakling half demon, most interesting. Why He wants such a poor specimen is beyond me, but I guess orders are orders.' **_The demon slid back into the ground, traveling faster than the dirt around it than most being could travel over open terrain. Some miles away, it reemerged from the ground to wait on it's prey to arrive. _**"Ahh Kyubi-kun, how I've longed for this day…"**_

A surge of demonic chakra was the only warning Naruto got before the ground around him completely exploded, sending rock and debris flying through the sky to land some distance away. Luckily for Naruto, he had managed to wrap his demonic tails around his body, forming a protective cocoon around his human form. After tumbling to a halt, he uncurled and stood back up, examining the beast standing in the crater he almost became part of.

"_**Ahh, I see you've finally come Butajii. I was wondering when you'd betray me."**_ Kyubi grinned malevolently at the pig-like beast, eying it's massive tusks protruding past it's forehead from it's lower jaw. _**"You've even grown since I last saw you, how nice."**_

The pig demon grunted out a reply Naruto almost couldn't translate, having to fall back on his demonic nature. _**"Still cocky as ever, Kyu-kun. I waited a long time searching for a way to kill you for what you did to my older brother. My orders be damned, I'll kill you and bring your corpse back."**_ The pig lunged at Naruto, traveling at such speed he almost couldn't dodge from the surprise. _**"To slow!" **_the demon bellowed, bringing down a massive fist that connected to Naruto's face, sending him slamming through several trees before skidding to a stop.

'_**Kit, he's too strong for you! Buta was my strongest Captain before I came to Earth over 2,500 years ago, and he's even stronger now than he was then. You can NOT beat a full fledged demon right now!'**_

Naruto ignored Kyubi, standing up as he faced off with the insanely fast and strong pig demon. Naruto charged, Kyubi screaming into their head the whole time. Each time Naruto made to attack the massive demon, it simply slipped past his guard, scoring a hit or kick that would make Naruto wince in unrelenting pain. Naruto back flipped, putting several meters between him and his opponent. 'Damn it Kyubi, will you shut the FUCK UP for once!? You screaming in my head is making this even harder!' he growled inside his head.

"I didn't lose to you Kyubi, King of the Fox Demons, and I refuse to lose to this butt ugly son of a pig bitch!"

"_**HEY!" **_yelled both Butajii and Kyubi at once.

Naruto formed an all too familiar hand sign, shouting, "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Around him, a hundred shadow clones appeared in a poof of smoke, each clone forming a Rasengan, a trick he had finally mastered without needing a clone to form and mold the energy for him. "Time to show 'em why we're the Number One Unpredictable Knuckle-headed Ninja!"

The hundred clones all charged at the demon, stagger their arrival to increase each ones' chance of landing a blow. As Buta evaded the clone force, picking them off one by one, Naruto used a ground splitting Earth Jutsu to wrap the pig in an area he couldn't escape from. _**"Nice try human, but you'll have to do better than this to beat me!" **_As the pig said this, small lumps formed on his back, expanding at an incredible rate. Within seconds of their appearance, large bat-like wings occupied the demonic entities' back.

'You _**have GOT **_to be SHITTING _**ME!**_' Naruto and Kyubi both thought. The pair were in too much shock to laugh at the funny thought they'd shared. "Um, any thoughts Kyubi?" the young ninja asked.

"_**Kit, I advised you to run when you had the chance. I suggest you use one of your higher level techniques to buy enough time to run for it." **_They both watched the massive demon as it took to the sky, circling around to dive at them.

Naruto winced from the barb Kyubi had used. He HAD indeed suggested running before. Naruto now knew that line had already come and past. "Fine. Man, this is gonna hurt like hell…" he mumbled, taking a defensive stance as he held back an arm, palm facing upward. "MULTI SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" he screamed, focusing on making as many clones as possible to replace the ones Buta was wiping out. After a number of seconds, in which time the demon had killed off quite a few of the clones, the clones finally managed to overwhelm the demon.

Clones latched onto the massive pig, weighing him down so he could not dodge as the real Naruto charged in with an Odama Rasengan. _**"I won't die so easily BOY!"**_ The demon swung around one of its' wings, a large talon-like claw aimed at the charging youth.

Naruto saw the claw heading his way, but he was too close to dodge. Instead of backing up, he continued forward, throwing the demons' aim off enough to miss being completely impaled by the claw. Instead, it ran a blazing hot line across his back, making him gasp as sudden agony tried to fog his mind. With one last desperate charge, he drove the basketball sized sphere into the demons' gut, sending torn muscles, blood, guts, and gore around the battlefield.

Butajii flew back, splitting trees it collapsed through for over a thousand yards before coming to a stop, it's front a mass of congealed goo. It's eyes stared down at it's wound, eyes empty and blank in death.

Naruto, however, couldn't care less about the demon at that point. His back, where he had been sliced open, felt as if rock salt were being crushed between his split skin and muscles. His mind could not focus for more than a fraction of a second before succumbing once again to the mindless torture that was his back. Kyubi was not as affected by the demonic poison coursing through their body as much, as he'd been attacked by Butajii before. However, even he was beginning to feel the effects of such strong toxins swimming through their bloodstream.

"_**Kit, I have to get you to someone that can remove that poison from us! I can only slow it, this time I can't save you**_**. You HAVE to give me control long enough to get us to help!" **Naruto wasn't listening. His mind was almost beyond rational thought, the sheer anguish was so great. _**"Kit, do you want to see Sakura again!?"**_

This time Naruto stopped writhing, long enough to release his immense control enough for Kyubi to take over. Before Naruto passed out from the mind-numbing intensity of the pain, he managed to squeak one final threat in. "Hurt the..m, I..'ll make you beg for Anima."

Kyubi was startled into laughter at the sheer audacity of the human. _**'You'd have made a good demon, kit.' **_With that over, Kyubi took them toward Konoha and the only human medic's it knew that might be able to save them.

Unknown to any of the combatants, a dark red eye watched from the distance, pleasant surprise at discovering the level his greatest prodigy was attaining. "Ahh Naruto-kun, Kyubi-kun… one day soon, you'll join me, and do so of your own free will." The orange-masked man cackled before disappearing in a blaze of black flames.

A little shorter than I'd planned on making it, but it seemed like as good a place to stop as any other. Let me know what you thought, and if you see any grammar errors or the like, let me know and I'll correct them ASAP. Anyway, thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3: Consequences of Fate

Okay, sorry I haven't been able to post anything on this story recently guys. I've been pulling 12+ hour long shifts for nearly the last month straight, without a day off at all. It doesn't look like it's getting any better, but I'll try to post up more updates ASAP. If the chapter seems to suffer because I've been so tired, let me know and I'll try for a rewrite or something. Anyway, for the usual disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS, HOWEVER THIS STORYLINE AND ANY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS ARE MINE!

"Speech"  
'Thought'  
**"Demon Speech"**  
_**'Demon Thought'**_

Enjoy the show!

* * *

Chapter 3: Consequences of Fate

"**Nearly there Kit, hang in there. Don't you die on me before I've had a chance to get out of you at least brat!" **Kyubi cursed under his breath, their body lurching to the left as pain once again blossomed across their back. **"Kit, if we get out of this, I swear by all that's unholy, I'll kill you myself."**

He grunted once more, forcing the young man's body he possessed onward toward their destination. Kyubi could feel the body slowly trying to break down from the strain of moving so much while fighting off the demonic poison coursing through their veins, beads of sweat dripping from their forehead. **"Gah! Where is that damn village!" **

A glint of light grabbed his attention for a split second before Kyubi disappeared from sight. A split second after he was concealed, a trio of ninja appeared where they were before. The taller of the group grunted in frustration, his brown spiked hair covering his eyes. "I could have swore I felt Naruto-nii-chan here a second ago. Why in the hell has he been running in circles around Konoha for the last two hours though?"

An anger vein threatened to burst in his head as Kyubi tried unsuccessfully to calm his inner rage at running around for so long circling his destination. _**'I'm never going to hear the end of this from that brat…' **_Kyubi popped out of hiding not ten feet away from the trio, making the taller boy stumble and fall on his back side.

"HEY! Whatcha do that for Boss?!" Before Konohamaru could say anything else, Kyubi grabbed Naruto's youngest rival, bringing him nose to nose.

"**GET ME TO THE HOSPITAL!" **The pair that arrived with Konohamaru, Meogi and Udon, both backed up in shock from the sudden killing intent Naruto seemed to be emitting.

"Whoa, come on Boss! Whatever it is it can't be THAT bad." Konohamaru rose his hands to put a barrier between him and his raging counterpart/mentor. "You're not even bleeding!"

Kyubi snarled at the insignificant human speck in his grasp, his mind howling at the human youth between him and the medical treatment he needed. **"Kid, I might look like your friend Naruto, but he's not in right now." **He let the youngsters take in that statement, signs of horror creeping into their eyes. **"He wouldn't hurt you, but I WILL if you don't take me to the hospital RIGHT NOW!" **Kyubi squeezed the young ninja's neck in his hand, slowly squeezing his life out.

Suddenly a fist came out of no where, smashing into Kyubi's face, breaking the nose he shared with his container. Kyubi tumbled for several yards before coming to a stop on his back, eyes on the kunai an inch from his nose. He stared up at the human holding the blade, staring into the intense green eyes of a very pissed off pink-haired kunoichi. "The Naruto I know, would never do that to his biggest rival for Hokage. Why are you here Kyubi, and what did you do to my Naruto?!" Her hand tightened on Naruto's shirt, pulling it tighter around his neck.

"**Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be here Bitch. However, I have a reason to be here, or can you not sense it even from this close?" **Kyubi grinned up at the girl, listening to her snarl in anger at being insulted in such a manner.

Sakura split her attention, ready for an attack if one came as she searched his body with her senses. It didn't take long for her to find the reason. She distinctly felt two demonic chakra, one from the Kyubi she could tell. The other, however, was different, foreign if that made any sense. Kyubi's chakra, while distinctly not human, was familiar to her, having sensed it several times before and even being injured by it once shortly after Naruto came home. This was a completely alien chakra, and if what she was feeling was real, it was breaking down their body, and quickly.

The kunai pulled away from the demon possessed man, his eyes meeting hers. "How long?"

"**A few hours and my attempt to hold this brat alive won't help anymore. After that, maybe an hour, probably less. I hope I'm not too late to save this body. It's not as nice as mine, but it's better than being dead, for now at any rate."**

Sakura glared at the Naruto look-alike, but made no comment. "Come on, We've gotta get you to Tsunade, I can't do this one alone." She reached down and grabbed his hand, squeezing hard enough to bruise the bones. Hearing the half-demon grunt in pain, she pulled a scroll from her medic pack. "Good thing I keep a few of these handy."

Biting her thumb, she spread some blood upon the seal, speaking a single word, "Hospital!" The pair both disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a bewildered trio of Leaf Genin to stare where their once great idols had stood.

* * *

It was a close one, far closer than Tsunade or Sakura cared for. The pair had worked together for nearly ten hours just trying to stop the poison, while other medics assisted in healing his extensive internal injuries, and another two hours to bring him back from the brink of death. The Kyubi had since receded, leaving the battered Naruto to heal on his own. He could do no more for the brat.

* * *

Kyubi didn't want to admit it, but the run to Konoha had tired him out. Between fighting off Butajii's poison and searching for Konoha, he had used up much of his energy. One of the downsides of joining with Naruto, Kyubi had come to realize. Kyubi's life had been spared, but much of his strength and stamina had been transferred to the already energetic blond he had merged with, simply to preserve his life. If Kyubi were separated from Naruto now, he'd be only a shadow of his former power.

As much as he hated to admit it, the kit was more powerful than him now. He might not see it, but Naruto had come off far better than he'd thought at first. His determination and will had prevented Kyubi from taking over at the beginning, and now Kyubi could hardly muster the strength to fight his former container. The pair would merge completely, and when that happened, Kyubi would cease to exist. In his place would be a new being, far stronger than the Fox Demon King had ever been.

It had been a collision course with fate all along when Naruto had been born into this world. It was his destiny to fight the demonic forces under Anima's control. Kyubi would not like becoming one with Naruto. Their bodies and minds were already linked. However, their souls would merge to form a being the likes of which Anima had never faced before. If nothing else, Kyubi was glad that his eventual demise would give rise to a being capable of facing such strength that even demons feared it. _**'That bastard child gets all the luck.'**_

* * *

Naruto woke up to a splitting head ache the likes of which he had not felt since his time in Konoha. It was not the worst he'd ever felt, for that distinction was purely Sakura's whenever she beat him up for whatever reason she'd seen fit. He groaned, expressing his displeasure in the manner he awoke. 'Man, I have GOT to stop waking up in hospitals.' he thought to himself. He could hear the emergency equipment beeping in the background noise, it's annoying monotone pulse sounding like nails on a chalk board to his fox ears.

He sat up, using a pair of tails to support his weight as he tried to fight back the sudden pain blazing through his back and chest. "Man, what in the hell happened to me this time?"

"I was going to ask you that same thing." said a voice from the corner.

Naruto glanced over toward the corner, meeting Tsunades' glare. She still had her hospital scrubs on from his operation to repair his slashed back. "Heh, hey Tsunade, um… how long was I out?"

With a heavy sigh, Tsunade shook her head at the young man she felt was like a son. "Naruto, how many times do I have to tell you, you don't LET the enemy stab you in the back. You're supposed to stab THEM in the back." Her face was completely straight, giving him no clue if she was joking or being serious.

With an embarrassed chuckle, Naruto said, "Thanks for the advise Tsunade-obaa-chan. Where's Sakura?"

Tsunade quirked her head to the side, similarly as a curious dog might. "What makes you think she even knows you're here?"

Naruto just stared at her, Tsunade was pushing his buttons intentionally. "For one, I can smell her on me, so I KNOW she's touched me within the last couple hours. For another, I can smell her tears. Now tell me, where… is…Sakura?" Naruto stood up, removing IV's from his arms as he stood on shaky legs.

"Brat, you are going to be the death of me. She's not HERE right now. I sent her home to get some sleep. She needed it after we got you stable again. She tried to argue, but I ordered her away for now. However, that's neither here nor there. Do you remember how you got to Konoha?"

He thought back, trying to remember traveling to the village, but his memories came up empty. A sudden lance of thought struck him, memories from the Fox. "Kyubi. Damn it Fox, I am SOO going to kill you for threatening Konohamaru!"

"**Oh shut up kit, it's not like I hurt him… much."**

"Excuse me, did you just say, MUCH!? What did you do you sadistic fucking fur ball!" Kyubi only chuckled at his other half, refusing to answer. "Damn demon."

"**Takes one to know one kit."**

"WHA! THAT'S IT FOX, I'M SO GON…"

"ENOUGH!" screamed Tsunade, her face bright red with anger and displeasure. "Shout in my hospital again and demons will be the least of your problems brat!" She eyed the arguing young man wearily. "Sakura wanted to see you when you got well. You're not quite 100% yet, but I think you can manage to get to her place and back again, so go on."

Naruto looked at Tsunade, his eyes meeting hers before nodding in acceptance. "Alright, if you need me you know where to look, Granny."

Before she could get her hands around his neck, his flash stepped away, his chuckle on his lips before leaving the older woman's reach. "NARUTOOOO!"

* * *

Sakura was tired. No, she was beyond tired. Holding Naruto's life in her hands for over twelve hours, and she had not let any other take over her burden. Her determination had given her the strength needed to draw the demonic poison from his body, but at the cost of her being nearly too tired to sit before her body collapsed. Tsunade had since ordered her home, despite Sakura's assurances that she was still strong enough to stay by his side as he recovered.

She thought back to what Tsunade had said to her. "You can't even stand on your own right now. If you tried to use any more chakra you'd likely pass out from just trying to gather it. You're no use to us here in your condition Sakura. Naruto is fine, and I doubt he'd want you to hurt yourself on his account. Go home, get some sleep, or so help me I'll knock you out myself." Sakura wanted to argue, but she was too tired to even do that.

She still didn't know how she got back home, her body was too weak to have gotten there without help, but she paid it no mind. She sat in bed, still wearing her normal clothes, trying not to think about her Naruto. Her thoughts went to the Kyubi, and her first meeting with him as he controlled Naruto's body, feeling a shudder run down his spine. She had hoped to meet Naruto under better conditions than him being split open like a melon and not even controlling his body.

'Naruto-kun, please be okay.' She drifted asleep, thoughts of Naruto drifting through her head. A soft knock on the door roused her from her shallow sleep. Mistaking the knock as a messenger from Tsunade, she leapt from the bed, body running on a sudden shot of adrenaline. She tore into the door, jerking it open so quickly it tore off it's top hinge. Standing behind the door, startled surprise on his face, stood Naruto.

Sakura clutched at her chest, the sudden fear of bad news turned into anger, both at herself and him for scaring her unintentionally. "BAKA!" she screamed, her right hand speeding into his face. He was so caught off guard it connected, leaving a burning hand print stinging across his sensitive whisker marks. He acted on pure instinct, top lip pulling up into a snarl of anger, long fangs extending past his lips. Before Sakura could realize her mistake, his hand was around her neck, holding her out of arms reach as he growled at her.

"What the fuck was that for!?" he shouted at her, being careful to not seriously hurt her despite his anger.

"Na-Naruto! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to slap you, I was running on instinct! Please, please let me make it better?"

He stared at her for a long minute, wishing he could figure this girl out. His hand relaxed, coming up to his face to rub his extremely sore cheek. "I must admit, you have a mean slap." He inhaled sharply as his fingers traced the bright red hand print across his face. When he felt her hand on his, he pulled away, instinctively trying to get away from the pain the girl before him had caused.

"Naruto, please… let me heal you. It's the least I can do for,"

"I don't need you to heal me!" he snapped. "I just need you to stop HITTING ME for once in your life!" he snarled down at her. He pushed past her, slipping into her house and slamming the door behind him. The door couldn't stand the force after Sakura's rough door-opening, causing it to break off it's bottom hinge as well. The racket made Naruto's ears cringe, his free hand covering up the ear closest to the door. "Damn-it." he grumbled.

After a minute of trying to suppress the ringing in his demonic hearing, he managed to relax and calm down some, looking over at Sakura to see a tear running down her face. Seeing the liquid run down her face kicked off his other senses, allowing him to smell her fear and salty tears, hear the shuddering of her breathing as she struggled to maintain her control. His anger shunted aside instantly, annoyed with himself for snapped at her.

He reached out, palm caressing her cheek as she hiccupped slightly. "I'm sorry Sakura. I never did have much control over my emotions, and I've only gotten worse as more crap came into play." He pulled her into a hug, his arms wrapping around her waist. "Please try not to do that again, okay? Pain normally sets a demon off, and that's not something I need right now."

She nodded, silently thanking her luck that he didn't hate her again for slapping him. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun. The last time I saw you, you were still in a hospital bed recovering. When I heard the knock on the door, I thought it was someone from Tsunade bringing me a message. She wouldn't have done that without a GOOD reason, so I kind of panicked. I thought that… I feared I'd lost you forever!" Tears ran down her eyes once more, which his hand rubbed away. "I, I can't lose you Naruto."

His free hand wrapped around her waist, pulling them both closer. "Hey, listen to me Sakura. It's okay. My face hasn't stung this bad in a long time, I was almost missing it… almost."

Despite the situation, Sakura couldn't help but laugh. "Naruto, you always manage to surprise me." She smacked him over the back of his head before rubbing it with her offending hand. "Don't make jokes at my expense, you jerk."

"Okay, but you have to promise me you're gonna stop being all sad and depressed. Look at me Sakura." She turned, her arms wrapping around his waist as his fell to her hips. "I'm fine, a little worse for wear, but I'm fine. Nothing is going to happen to me." He pulled her closer, until she was so close his chin rested on her head. "When did you get so short?"

A chakra-filled fist connected to his stomach without thought. "I'm not short you, you… GAH!" Her eyes traveled up, meeting his mischievous orbs. "Sometimes I miss the days when I could really beat you up Naruto."

"Hmm, you mean the days you _really_ could beat me up, or just the days I'd let you because I liked you?"

"Why you! Grrrr, I can't win for losing with you can I?! One of these days I'll…"

Her words cut off when his lips slammed into hers, cutting her rant short as he strove to taste her lips. She instantly moaned into his mouth, the fact that they were kissing completely missed by her side-tracked mind. Her mouth opened, her tongue reaching out to pry his lips open if need be. When his tongue caressed hers, they both hit cloud nine.

The explosion of taste and sensation mixed, instantly rocking them both on their heels, desperate for breath. After a full minute, they both separated, his forehead caressing hers as they both gasped for air. He opened his eyes, staring at her still closed eyes in loving fondness.

He could admit he still loved the pinkette. Her eyes slowly opened, heavy-lidded and glossed over as her mind processed what had just happened. "I don't believe you did that, baka." Her eyes took on a more tangible appearance, the fog over her mind slowly fading away.

"What do you expect? It worked right? Besides, I AM part demon you know." To demonstrate his point, he wrapped his arms around her, pinning her body to his. A tail came up between his legs, through hers until it caressed her short-clad backside, running small circles across her covered flesh before tucking between her lower cheeks. He pulled the tail out from between them, making sure he drug it across where her legs met her ass. A shudder ran through her body, feeling the powerless and exhilarating feeling of the man she loved touching her, albeit through clothes, on one of her most private of areas.

A soft moan escaped her mouth, so quietly that Naruto wouldn't have heard it without his demonic hearing. He chuckled darkly, feral voice ringing in her ears. "Enjoying yourself Sakura-chan?" His tail snaked back before their legs, but it never got there.

Before she could answer, a loud knock on her door broke their attention, causing Sakura to snap her head toward the door in annoyance. Their mood broken by the interruption, "Who is it?"

"Sakura-san, Tsunade ordered me to find you! There's been an attack, and she needs your help!" Shizune's voice exclaimed. "We have people gathering at the Hokage Tower now!" Shizune looked at the pair, dreading the news she had to give them. "It involves Sasuke…"


	4. Chapter 4: Complications

Hey guys, sorry it's been awhile since I last updated. Too much RL crap going on. I'll try to update fairly soon to make up for it, but no promises! Anyway, in this one Naruto has a conversation or two with Kyuubi/himself. Think of him as having multiple personalities at this point in the story, it'll change as the story develops.

Thanks Cloud Ex-SOLDIER for pointing out a mistake I'd made in this chapter from chapter 1. I went back and added a few lines of dialog to try and straighten out the mistake. If anyone else sees a story mistake, let me know so I can fix it asap.

Anyways...  
**"Speach" -** demons talking  
"Speach" - normal people talking  
_'Thoughts' - _people thinking

Anyway, that should cover it for the story, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 4: Complications

The pair surveyed the injured, many with severe burns across large parts of their bodies from fire and lightning techniques. One man lurched up, sending a jolt of white fire down his ravaged chest and neck, his burned skin splitting as medics tried to hold him down. "TSUME! WHERE'S MY DAUGHTER!" he screamed.

Sakura rushed over, chakra covering her hands as she struggled to keep the man alive. Try as she might, the man's thrashing had opened too many of his burns, blood pooling around his battered body. There was little she could do as the man slipped away. Tears ran down her face. _'Why!'_ she thought to herself, trying not to think of the patient she could not save.

Naruto stood in the make-shift hospital entrance, the cries of the injured heavy on his ears. _'Sasuke, could you have really done something like THIS?'_

* * *

Flashback

"Sakura-san, Tsunade ordered me to find you! There's been an attack, and she needs your help!" Shizune's voice exclaimed. "We have people gathering at the Hokage Tower now!" Shizune looked at the pair, dreading the news she had to give them. "It involves Sasuke…"

The pair were on alert instantly. They both bolted for the doorway, falling in step behind Shizune as the trio jumped between the rooftops of Konoha as fast as they humanly could. Shizune lead them to a building near the western gate, already to find a small medical detachment setting up for the next wave of injured villagers.

The injured had sickened Sakura, despite her being a fully qualified medical ninja for over three years. When Naruto saw some of them, his inner demon started trying to take over, causing him to have to hide in a corner for almost ten minutes as he forced down his instincts. The first few injured were mostly woman being supported by injured men and younger teens. When the first wave of injured children arrived, Naruto could no longer control his rage.

He disappeared from the building, flash stepping almost five miles south of the village. With nothing standing between him and his anger, his vision turned red as Kyubi took over, instantly going through an hour long rampage that devastated the terrain. Every punch and kick he swung released some of his pent up anger. By the time he had exhausted himself and gotten back to the village, most of the wounded had been cared for, with only the odd straggler lagging behind.

When he walked back inside the make-shift hospital, Sakura had sent him right back out the hard way, blood flying from his newly shattered nose. He was so tired he couldn't even posture at her for that, simply taking the verbal and physical abuse she needed to vent. "What in the hell were you doing you BAKA!? We felt that shit all the way over HERE! What in the fuck were you thinking!?" Her tears ran down her face, the stress finally overcoming her medical training.

Tsunade and Shizune looked at the pair, a grin upon their faces despite the situation. If nothing else, the pair would keep everyone on their toes, that was for sure. "Sakura, Naruto, you need to hear this." She gestured for the pair to come toward her, a patient still under her care. "This man was the leader of the village that was attacked." She hesitated for a second, unsure if she should tell them what the village leader had told her. "He, knows who attacked his village…"

The man croaked weakly, struggling to get the words out as the four ninja around him sat patiently for him to speak. After nearly a minute, he managed to croak out a, "U…chi…ha." before he lost consciousness.

Stunned silence ensued as the younger pair let this news settle in. Things were never supposed to be like this…

End Flashback

* * *

Naruto was pacing back and forth inside the Forrest of Death. He was pissed. Not just a little pissed, but full on get kicked in the nuts pissed. Sasuke, the man he'd befriended so many years ago, slaughtering an entire village out of spite… it just didn't seem right. 'I don't believe it. I won't believe he's fallen so low he'd do THIS!'

"**You know how unstable he's been in the past brat. He lived for one reason only, and you took that reason away from him. Did you honestly not expect something to happen?"**

"Well I hardly expected THIS! He wiped out an entire village, a VILLAGE!" Naruto ground his teeth together, anger seething in the voice. "He slaughtered men, women, even CHILDREN! I can't forgive him for that. I have to end this, and soon." Guilt welled up in him, making Naruto all the more angry. "Those people are dead because of me, I killed those people just as surely as if I'd held the blade or used the jutsu." His eyes lit up, glowing a baleful red color. "This shit ends here, and now."

* * *

Sakura couldn't find Naruto anywhere. After the news of Sasuke's attack, he had simply vanished. No one had seen him, although she believed he was still nearby. She could faintly feel his chakra bleeding out, and it felt ANGRY. Only twice had she sensed him this angry; once when he first left, and right before he'd shown his face to her after their last mission to bring him home.

Goose bumps formed on her arms, hair raising on end as those memories hit her once again. She couldn't risk losing him, not now, after he'd finally shown some emotion for her besides anger and distain. Sakura left a note on her door just in case someone came looking for her, then locked up and leapt into the roof tops.

Her search took several minutes before she finally found him, using the chakra to home in on him sitting on top of the Hokage monument. It made sense, he'd always come up here for comfort before he left. She walked up behind him, calling his name to get his attention. When he didn't turn around to look at her, she called out louder, stepping closer to him. Still nothing.

"Damn it Naruto, stop ignoring me and look at me!" Nothing, no reply, movement, twitching of an ear, nothing. Being unused to getting ignored, Sakura stormed up to his back, preparing to grab his attention the old fashioned way, before the memory of her last time hitting him struck her. 'Maybe I'll try a different way… I think my days being able to hit him are over.'

Sakura walked around toward his front, finally catching sight of his blood red eyes. She gasped, taking a step back frantically. Those eyes seemed to focus on nothing, staring blankly while facing west. Now that she was closer she could make out the subtle growling coming from his chest, a sound that promised pain, death. Sakura swallowed past the massive lump forming in her throat. She had to do something, she couldn't stand seeing him so angry and hurt.

Without a second though, she stepped up to him, her hands finding his cheeks as she forced his head to look up at her. When his eyes finally snapped to her, Sakura swallowed once again. She could feel his anger, it was almost palpable. "Naruto, snap out of it, please? I need you here right now." A tear ran down her face, both from the village attack earlier and finding Naruto so distressed.

His eyes started to fade, once more becoming the cerulean blue she loved so much. "Don't cry Sakura-chan."

She instantly fell against him causing him to fall back. She landing on top of him as more tears fell. "Naruto, don't scare me like that again!" She lightly whacked him in the gut, which for her nearly knocked his breath out since he hadn't expected it. Her arms wrapped around his neck, holding her in place as her face found his shoulder.

His arms wrapped around her body, one looping over her back and the other settled on the back of her neck, feeling her body tremble against his as her pent up emotions finally broke. He wrapped his tails around her, smothering her with warmth and comfort on the cold-winded plateau. "Shhh, it's okay Sakura-chan." She cried for ten minutes, leaving his cloak wet with tears.

"I'll find out what happened Sakura, that I WILL promise you." She nodded her head, not bothering to look up at him. He had a conviction in his voice when he'd said it, she knew he wouldn't rest until they got to the bottom of this attack. She felt herself lift up, and knew that Naruto was standing up, even while holding her.

"Naruto?" She pulled back, eyes connecting with his once more.

"I have things to do Sakura, I'll take you somewhere you can relax while I'm busy."

"Okay, just don't take too long. You're too comfortable to let go of for long." He chuckled at her antics. "I won't take too long, then you can snuggle as much as you want." He finally arrived at his first destination, his hotel room. He grumbled about his old apartment complex being torn down after he left, and since he'd had no where else to stay this was it for now. He set her down in the doorway, reluctant to let go of the pink haired beauty. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Want me to bring you back any food?"

She grinned. "Sure, just no ramen!" She outright laughed when he groaned, before he walked out of the room and shut the door. 'I wonder what he needs to do anyway…' she thought.

* * *

Naruto was a man on a mission, get to the Hokage Tower. His objective, a mission to that village. His target, one Sasuke Uchiha. The name brought so many memories, both good and bad. His first brother and rival, his first true friend, his closest call with death, a hand piercing his lung. All of it stemmed from that one person. 'Sasuke.' Naruto could feel his anger trying to seep out, but he quickly stomped it back down. It wouldn't help him right now.

Naruto found the doors to Tsunade's office closed, Shizune standing in the hallway with her ear pressed to the wood. 'Okay, that's weird… normally Shizune is in there for everything…' Naruto walked closer, his sensitive hearing picking up the voice of Tsunade talking with a strangely familiar voice. Naruto couldn't place it, but Kyuubi recognized it almost instantly. Kyuubi's personality took over, and he kicked in the door causing them to splinter, Shizune yelping in surprise.

Naruto stormed into the room, eyes flashing red only to go back to their red/blue color before flashing red once again. How could she come here? It wasn't safe here in the human world anymore. **"Damn it Misuni, what in the Nine Hells are you doing here!"** The young woman turned around, shock written all over her face. She recognized that anger, and immediately dropped her genjutsu. Her fox form displayed her five tails proudly, even when she rolled onto her back in an animal-like gesture of submission.

"**Father? Is that you?"**

* * *

To say that Naruto was surprised would have been the understatement of the millennium. That Kyuubi had the strength to force Naruto's personality aside was earth-shattering for him, even though he hid it well. However, his shock at seeing this gorgeous fox submitting to him was even more surprising. The fact that she'd called Kyuubi father was an even bigger shock as well. However, try as he might, Kyuubi couldn't keep control for long as Naruto regained control of his body. "Kyuubi, if you do that again I'll bury you so deep in my mind it'll take you the rest of my life to see the surface again!"

"**Fuck off kit, even YOU can't keep me from seeing my daughter."**

"That's another thing… when in the fuck were you going to mention the fact that you had a kid?"

"**Kit, not kid, you idiot. I haven't seen her in over a hundred years. Speaking of which, how in the hell did you find me Misuni?"**

The fox, who had been trying and failing to follow the conversation with her father and whoever the human was, took on a confused expression. **"I, I used your Blood Tracker jutsu."** The fox cringed as the human/fox growled down at her.

"**I buried that jutsu for a reason kit. Why did you risk being banished just to find an old fox you haven't seen for so long?! I can't go to the demon plane anymore Misuni. I was banished myself despite being a demon lord for using that technique! How could you be so stupid!?"**

Tsunade decided to finally speak up. "What exactly is the Blood Tracker jutsu? I've never heard of one before."

Naruto cut his eyes toward Tsunade, glowering at her before looking back at his daughter/fox. **"It's a demon technique. You sacrifice part of your demon blood for the ability to track down anyone or anything, no matter where or what it is. In my case, I tracked down Anima. That's why I came to the human plane, He was hiding among humans, namely the Leaf Village. I had no other reason for attacking this miserable village, I simply wished to remove a threat to my family. Next thing I know, I'm locked away in this sniveling human."**

"Oh gimmie a break! You're telling me you didn't want to destroy Konoha after you broke out of me? I'm throwing the bull shit flag on that fox!"

**"Okay, maybe I did a little. I was mostly trying to upset you enough to weaken the seal... to bad it turned you all heroic-like and self-sacrificing, dumbass."**

"Hey, fuck you fox, last time I checked I was holding YOU in jail, not the other way around. That seal ran off MY strength, so eat my dick."

"**I think I'll leave that to your human mate, thanks."** came Kyuubi's sarcastic reply.

"Asshole."

"ENOUGH!" The two shut up, both fearing the pain Tsunade voice normally herald when she yelled like that. Tsunade pointed at Naruto's left eye and said, "You, shut the fuck up." Then she pointed at his right eye and said, "You, grow up." She looked down at the fox still laying on the ground and said, "You, stand up." Lastly she looked over at Shizune and said, "You…sake…now."

She collapsed into her chair. This was going to take awhile.

* * *

"Tsunade, I came here to tell you I need a mission with a back up team and one medic for afterward." Naruto looked at the Hokage, she had finished off her first bottle without removing her lips, however the second was at least taking awhile to disappear. "I'm going to find out what happened to that village, and I get the feeling something is going on we can't see."

Tsunade looked at him, suspicion clearly written there. "Call it a hunch, and stop looking at me like that Granny."

She glared at him but ignored the bait. "Fine, you have one week. I have Guy's team here. You can take Sakura as your medic. Knowing you, you'll need someone as skilled as her afterward if shit hit's the fan."

Naruto glared at her. "I don't want to drag her into this. Give me another medic."

"Either she goes, or no mission, period. Now go out and tell the team, you have two days to get ready, then you're outta here. Now scram."

Naruto glared at her for a minute, but he turned around and walked out the door. **"Misuni."** He could hear her claws lightly scratch the tiled floor as she followed him, her eyes weary as she took in his tight posture. Her, father, wasn't very happy. He made a clone, sending it off to tell Sakura what happened as he continued walking, feeling the eyes of the villagers on him and the multi-tailed fox following closely behind.

One villager decided to get back at the demon pair, swinging a barb wire wrapped bat down at the foxes' back. Inches away from her back, the bat suddenly jarred to a stop, snapping in half at the handle. Naruto pried the metal out of his hand, before dropping the remains of the bat to the ground, his blood red eyes locked on the man who tried to harm his daughter.

Misuni didn't know something was happening until the bat snapped behind her, blood landing on her thick coat as her father stood over her.

"For attacking me, you would have gotten a beating. **For trying to harm my daughter, you die…slowly"** Naruto pulled back his bleeding hand, before driving it into the man's shoulder. His other hand wrapped around the man, preventing him from pulling away as Naruto's semi-demonic blood flowed into the man's wound. A minute later, he ripped his hand out of the man, causing the assailant to stagger back, gasping in pain as the toxic blood and chakra ate away at him.

Without a second thought, Naruto turned and walked off, Misuni following closer behind now. **"Father, I'm sorry I've caused you more problems."**

Naruto looked down at the fox, nearly waist high on him. He let Kyuubi take over a little. **"Kit, don't get me wrong and think I'm not happy to see you. I am glad I got to see you again, but I really wish you hadn't used that jutsu. Very soon you'll most likely be banished like me. I don't want to see you in pain like I was because of that. Actually, now that I think about it why DID you come to find me?"**

Her posture sunk into one of defensive anger. **"I think HE defected to Anima."**

It took a minute for the memories to filter down to Naruto. "Bastion. That son of a bitch…" Naruto went right back to being pissed off, thinking about his second in command from eons past. So many thoughts, memories, all foreign to Naruto, all feeling like his own. It was hard remembering which were his or not now.

"**Father, let me…"** she nodded her head at his hand, still covered in his and their attackers blood.

He nodded his head, presenting his hand to her as she licked his hand clean, feeling his wounds heal up.

As his daughter finished healing his hand, they heard a yell coming from a very pissed of human female. "NARUTOOOOOO!" Before either could react to the scream, Naruto was hit with a fist so hard his body flew limply across the training ground they had stopped near, smashing through a pair of trees. Misuni backed away from the crazy woman who'd just appeared, looking between her father staggering to his feet and their attacker.

Before she could control her impulses, Misuni ran to her father, standing between him and the girl who had struck him, tails swinging wildly as her barely controlled anger threatened to take over.

Sakura stopped short, seeing a very pissed off fox nearly as big as you that resembled a small Kyuubi could do that to you. Before Sakura could react, the fox lunged at her, trying to sink her teeth into the humans' neck. A foot away, Misuni came to a sudden stop, being gently but strongly held back by a heavily breathing Naruto. "Misuni, calm down." He turned toward Sakura, eyes obviously showing his displeasure. "Sakura, same to you."

When the pair finally calmed down from their adrenaline high, Naruto turned toward Sakura. "I'd like to introduce you two. Sakura, meet Misuni. Misuni, Sakura." His eyes met Sakura's. **"Misuni is, my daughter."**


	5. Chapter 5: Powerful but Weak

Here's the next update. Misuni is the property of… ME, MYSELF, and I. Oh, and so is this fic. Don't worry though, I don't own Naruto… yet. Anyway, enjoy!

"Speech" - Human speech  
**"Speech"** - Demon Speech  
_'Speech' - Human Though  
'Speech'_ - Demon Though

Chapter 5: Powerful but Weak

*Flashback*

Naruto just wasn't having a good week. First a village attack, and then he has a demon daughter sprung on him, and now THIS. Why, oh WHY, did Misuni have to be so damn stubborn? **"For the last time, not… happening. You are not coming on this mission."**

"**Why not!? It's not like I'm weak or anything, I can take care of myself. It's not like you were around the last hundred years!"** The fox glared up at Naruto. **"I can take care of myself, father."** She said the last word with condescension dripping from her voice.

Naruto took exception to the demon fox talking to him like that, his anger bristling. "I suggest you watch yourself kit. **I didn't ASK you if you liked it, I said you are not coming. Period, dot, end of discussion.** I don't know what I'm running into out there, and Anima is down here somewhere. **I will NOT allow my youngest daughter to fall to that demon-controlling asshole!"**

"**He can't control me, I'm to…"**

"SHUT UP!" The outburst came solely from Narutos' human side. "Misuni, Kyuubi could barely fight off Anima at his full strength, and he's one of the oldest and strongest demons ever. You, on the other hand, are young and weak by comparison." She blanched at the word weak, scowling at him. "Yes, I said it, WEAK! You can't fight off his control if he gets close enough to you, and that is something neither me NOR Kyuubi will allow. So if you don't want to listen to him, you WILL listen to me."

Naruto summoned up every ounce of power he could muster, the air visibly heating up as chakra waves rolled off of him. He could feel trimmers in the ground under his feet as the earth itself reacted to his display of power. "You, are, NOT, coming!"

Misuni backed up on shaky knees, fear and awe fighting for dominance in her mind. She had never felt such a vast amount of power before, even in the presence of elder demons fighting each other, and that was a sight to behold. Misuni might have been stubborn and headstrong, but she was no fool. She rolled onto her back, throat exposed to him in defeat. **"Very well father, but I don't like seeing you with only a few humans for help if anything goes wrong."**

Naruto cut off his power, sending a shockwave outward from him from the backlash. He bent down, arms wrapping around Misuni to pull her back onto her feet. **"You don't have to keep doing that Misuni, I'm not completely demon anymore."** One of his tails wrapped around hers, the human equivalent of draping and arm over anothers' shoulder. **"You won't offend or anger me THAT easily daughter." **Naruto's stomach decided that that was a good time to make itself known.

Misuni chuckled as the being who she called father blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, you hungry?" She thought about it for a second before nodding her head. "Great, I'll show you the bliss that is… RAMEN!" Naruto made a dash for the ramen stand, Misuni grinning at the childish antics he displayed. _**'Such is my life, as it were. Daughter to probably the most power demon ever, how isn't even fully demon, and can go from serious to kit-ish in seconds flat. What have I gotten myself into…?'**_

* * *

*End Flashback*

Team Guy followed behind Naruto, Sakura in the middle of their formation as they ran through the tree tops. They had been traveling for three days now and were close to the village that had been nearly wiped out. Neji had yet to see anyone else, either on the way or since they had arrived in the area. It was strange, seeing an area so tranquil despite a human village being torn asunder. Something felt off to Neji, he just couldn't place it. "Naruto, I can see the outskirts of the village now, we'll be there in ten minutes."

"Thanks Neji, let me know if you see anything."

Neji nodded his head, his white eyes scanning the decimated town. Not a minute later, movement caught his eye and neji's attention snapped toward it. He eyes focused on a bush, littered with debris and partially burned from earlier. He saw no reason for the movement, everything else around it was still, so it couldn't have been a gust of wind. "Naruto!" The team came up short, just as an impossibly long sword erupted from the brush.

Naruto tried to dodge, but was unable to avoid it completely, earning a long and painful slash across his left side. Naruto started evading the wicked blade, stained red already from his blood. "Back up, stay out of range of that thing guys!"

Tenten grabbed Sakura, who had tried to rush over to him when she noticed him bleeding. "No, Sakura, we can't help him yet, we'll all just get in his way! He will heal well enough on his own, just trust him for now!"

Sakura tried to push past Tenten even more, until they noticed Naruto appear beside them both. They both looked down at his side, noticing a clean shirt, no blood stains at all. Sakura looked at him, surprise on her face before looking back at the clone dodging for it's life. It held numerous cuts from close calls, but nothing vital. That's when the team noticed the blade wasn't aiming to kill.

Sakura looked back at the Naruto next to her, then back at the clone and back at him. "How…?"

"It's a new clone technique." he answered her unfinished question. "I can make clones that take realistic damage. If you cut them, they bleed. If you hit them, they bruise. If you break their bones, you feel them snap. The only down side is when they finally dispel I feel it, ALL of it." Sakura gave him a startled look. "What?" he asked. "You thought I was just out there for a year sitting on my ass?" he grinned at her, one of those fake smiles she had learned to see through.

'_He isn't telling me everything.' _she realized. Unable to argue at the moment, they settled in to watch the fight.

Narutos' clone hadn't been fairing so well against his assailant. From the onset, the clone had been on the defensive, only going on the offensive whenever the sword wielder attempted to back down enough to attack from a different angle. After a full five minutes dodging the blade, an attack from behind managed to strike the clone, a lightning jutsu right in the small of it's back.

The clone let out a single ragged scream of pain before dispelling, causing Naruto to fall to one knee, a grunt of pain being barely held in check. He looked ahead, eyes focusing on the two men standing on the path between the Konoha nin and the blackened buildings beyond. "Orochimaru… Sasuke…"

"Hn, well if it isn't the loser. Didn't ever expect you to come so far with that clone jutsu, thanks for showing me that by the way." He pointed to his eyes, red Sharingan eyes glaring even as he spoke. "I'll make sure I use it on the next village"

The wind shifted, a strange scent in the air wafting from the two men standing upon the road. If Kiba were here Naruto would know if he was smelling right, but without him there Naruto had to be sure. He formed three shadow clones, charging at the pair with his other three Naruto's.

The fighting was swift and painful to watch, as naruto both took and gave incredibly painful looking blows. A slash across the chest from a sword to Naruto, a quartet of claws down Orochimaru's face, a kick to Narutos' left knee even as he twisted around and kicked Sasuke in the face. Without warning, Naruto pulled back, favoring the knee even the medically untrained could see was broken.

"**I should have known." **Naruto said, eyes glaring back at the pair, seemingly unimpressed by their injuries. **"Cat demons."**

At those two words, the pair shuddered and fell to the ground convulsing. Sakura started to run to their old teammate, but Naruto held up an arm to block her. **"It's too late for them Sakura, they've been dead for awhile now**."

"What, what are you talking about!? You were just fighting them a minute ago, let me help him!" She tried to run around his arm but felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her waist, arms pinned to her side.

"Listen to me Sakura, I've never lied to you, and I'm not right now. They're dead, trust me on this and just watch." Her struggling stopped, but her mind continued to fight on, not wanting to believe it was true. **"See?" **his voice said.

Sakura looked up, tears in her eyes as she watched a strange humanoid shape clawing out of Sasuke's back, another already completely out of Orochimaru's dead husk. **"So, figured it out did you? I remember a time you would have seen us even wearing another's body. It's a shame you didn't figure it out earlier. You might have gotten the humans out alive at least."** It glanced at Tenten and Sakura, a gleam in it's eyes. **"I think we'll be able to have some fun before we kill them."**

The second demon chuckled darkly. **"Oh yes brother, quite fun indeed."**

Neji and Lee tightened up, blocking the demons from their female companions.

"**Ah, isn't that adorable? A human trying to block a demon from what it wants."** The pair laughed maniacally, even as the humans scowled over at them.

"What did you do to them?" Sakura yelled suddenly, her eyes glancing at the corpses laying oddly on the ground.

"**Those things? Meh, found 'em in a cave a good solid week ago and we figured we'd take 'em for a spin. Imagine our luck when they actually knew our target. We ripped them apart, taking their minds into ours as we consumed them from the inside out." **The one that came out of Sasuke smirked at Sakura. **"Your dear sweet Sasuke had many thoughts of raping you when he invaded Konoha." **It looked over at Naruto, seeing his hands clinched into fists so fight his nails drew blood. **"He never forgave you for killing his brother, Kyuubi."**

The pair once again broke off into pearls of laughter, before both were silenced when Naruto appeared between them, a hand wrapped around each throat. **"Do I look like I'm laughing**?" he asked darkly, before his hands squeezed closed, causing both demons to disappear in a red haze.

"**You were always so predictable Kyuubi, and that is why you're ours now." **A black metal cage erupted from the ground around him, razor sharp hooks popping out of the cage to grasp him at every conceivable angle, digging deeply into his body as Naruto tried to stay standing.

The demons appeared outside the cage, grinning in triumph. **"Let it be known, that the great Kyuubi no Kitsune fell to Nekosai and Nekoshi, the demon cat twins. Now, I do believe we have some humans to torture, rape, and kill. Feel free to enjoy the show Kyuu, and know that you'll suffer a hundred fold more than these humans when Anima gets his claws in you."**

"**Hehe, you think so huh?" **The pair of cats looked down at Naruto, surprised he could still talk big for being trapped in an unbreakable cage, even by demon kings. "Next time you try to face a predictable opponent, make sure he hasn't become UNpredictable!" The Naruto held inside the cage lost his texture, seemingly losing his features, but crumbling into a pile of dirt inside the cage.

"**What! Where did he g…" **was as far as the demon got before a clawed hand erupted from his chest, spraying the ground with acidic black blood.

The cat demon stared down at the blood covered hand protruding from it's chest, it's body immediately in shock. _'How did he, where, whe…?'_ and then it's thoughts ended.

Naruto shook the decaying demon off his arm, staring at it's still-living brother. **"I am not Kyuubi, the Fox demon king. I am not Naruto, the unpredictable human ninja. I, am MUCH harder to kill than either. Next time Anima comes after me or mine people, tell him to send bigger demons**.**"** Naruto grabbed the cat by it's arms, before pulling his body up and putting his legs on its chest. With a sudden motion, as if he were standing up, he wrenched the demons' arms outward until they past their limit, being viciously torn off of the demons' very body.

The poor cat demon was still in so much shock it barely felt the pain, even after Naruto picked it up by it's neck and punched it full strength in the chest, sending it completely out of sight. **"If you survive, tell Anima I'm coming for him." **he said under his breath, speaking to no one in particular.

The watching humans blanched at the sight, seeing someone's arms be ripped off, even a demons, was not a pretty sight. Sakura took it worse than anyone else, seeing the man she loved acting much like the demon he was called so long ago. She turned from the sight, silent tears running down her face. _'Naruto-kun, what's happened to you? Where's the innocent loveable goofball that always made me laugh?'_

Naruto walked back toward his waiting friends, a frown on his face. They were each in defensive postures, as if expecting him to attack them at any minute. "Um, guys? What gives?" He looked over at Sakura, his eyes meeting her back. "I'm not going to suddenly start ripping your heads off ya know." he said defensively, eyes narrowing as anger crept into his voice.

"Your actions fighting them speak otherwise." said Neji, nodding his head toward the limbs still pooling blood even as they broke down into acidic mush.

Lee stepped forward, never dropping his guarded posture as he spoke. "The Naruto I know would never have done what you have done here. I cannot believe that the Naruto I knew would rip his enemies apart like that, demon or not!"

Naruto couldn't believe his ears. "You can't see me doing something like that? **Then I guess hearing me torment Itachi for hours before a finally ended his pain and terror would be too much for you?" **The trio facing him blanched, eyes wide in shock and horror. "How about the time I had a pair of missing Mist nin ambush me a month after I left, huh? **That's when I learned I could control my tails consciously, when one of those nin jumped me and I used my tail to impale him from the groin up!"**

Naruto took a step toward them, water pooling in his eyes. "What about all that time Akutsuki hunted me down before I changed? When the VILLAGERS beat me nearly to death on my fifth birthday, I WAS FIVE DAMN IT!" He took another step toward them, tears already falling down his face. "Do you think I ASKED to be this?! Think I WANTED to be half demon?! You think I wanted to merge my very personality with a demon whose memories include killing countless humans and demons over THOUSANDS OF YEARS? The very demon responsible for the attack that killed BOTH my parents?! Well, here's a FUCKING NEWS FLASH! I didn't, I don't, and I never DID! Welcome to my soap opera life guys, enjoy the show?"

Naruto turned away from them, storming off into the woods as his tails absolutely writhed behind him. One tail slashed into a tree as he walked past, splintering the trunk with no apparent effort. The trio of Team Guy blanched again, a shudder running through their minds as his words finally worked their way into the humans' heads. "Well, I feel like a real bitch right now." Tenten quipped.

"Yea, same here." Neji agreed. "I think our shock at seeing Naruto fighting those demons got to us without realizing it.

"Heh, no shit Sherlock." Lee and Tenten looked at Sakura in surprise, Neji ignoring the insult as always. "I think we all just had our eyes opened, and not in the good way either." Sakura turned to face where Naruto had stormed off. "I think we all owe him an apology, but I think I owe him a lot more than that." Sakura walked through the hole left by Naruto, following his chakra bursts. "If I'm not back in an hour, leave without me."

Neji walked after her saying, "Hold on Sakura, we need to give him some space to relax and calm down. You can't go in there with him like this, even you might not be safe! I can't allo…" was as far as he got before her fist found his face.

"You're not allowing me to do anything Hyuuga. That's my friend out there. You should be in my place, going out there to try and help him. Beyond that though, I love that knuckle head out there. I love him for his strengths just as much as his weaknesses." Her head fell, hair covering her eyes. "For a second there, I forgot that, and that's something I'll never forgive myself for, even if HE does." She gestured out to where they could all hear the very ground itself being ripped apart. "I'm going to show him how much he means to me, even if I have to take a beating to prove myself to him! Now stay out of my way, or I'll put chakra behind the next one."

Sakura turned away from the trio before leaping into the tree tops, running as fast as her legs could take her toward Naruto venting his anger. _'I hope it's not too late.'_

* * *

Naruto hadn't been this angry since Sakura had told him she hated him, the day his life had become hell itself when Kyuubi fused with him. "I can't fucking believe those guys! After all I've done for them and that village, now even my old FRIENDS are afraid of me!? Why am I even bothering anymore?" He formed a rasen-shuriken before throwing it at a boulder the size of a large house.

The orb hit dead center, exploding in a violent clash of light and high pitched whistling. When the light dimmed down, the boulder seemed unaffected for a minute, before collapsing in a heap of grindstone dust. Naruto glared at the pile of dust before blazing through a series of hand signs. Water erupted from the surrounding ground, moving as Naruto bent and swayed, writing a message into the dust.

_*Fuck humans, fuck demons, fuck Anima, fuck the Leaf, fuck EVERYONE!*_

"Hmm, glad to see you didn't actually name me personally this time." quipped a voice behind him. Naruto turned around, solid red eyes resting on Sakura as she walked closer toward him.

"What do you want NOW? Didn't scare you enough like I did the others?" Naruto formed a rasengan and threw it at her, which she barely dodged. **"Get away from me Sakura. I don't want anyone here, especially you. At least the others could look at me!"**

She winced at that comment, she knew it was true. She hadn't wanted to see him like that, so she turned away. However, sense had finally come to her, and nothing would make her look away from him now, short of death itself. "I'm sorry."

The words were so quiet he didn't think he'd caught them right. "You're sorry? You're SORRY?! Sorry should have come a few YEARS ago Sakura! Sorry should have come right after those words left your mouth a year ago before I was turned into a half demon freak! Sorry no longer cuts it. I stopped caring about sorry when three of my friends think I'll suddenly gonna attack them for no reason and the girl that claims to love me can't stand to even LOOK at me."

Naruto glared at her as she stepped closer. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." He noticed tears running down her face, but still couldn't bring himself to care.

"**Get away from me Sakura." **He leapt back, putting more distance between him and the pinked haired kunoichi. **"I will hurt you if you don't leave me alone."**

She took another step forward, ignoring his threat. "Hurt me? You already are simply by not letting me hold you baka." A sad grin formed on her lips. "The only way to stop me from trying to reach you is you killing me, right here, right now."

His eyes widened, before hardening once more. **"Is that an statement or an open offer? I don't WANT to be near you Sakura**. I want to be loved, excepted, hell I'd settle for people even standing my presence. You can't even look at me."

She stopped walking, head bent down until her hair covered her face. "You really think that lowly of me? You think I can't even look you in the eye? Maybe that's because I don't think I'm worthy of doing so." He came up short. "During that fight, for a moment I forgot who I was watching fight. I couldn't stand looking at you being so violent. I can admit that, I'm not proud of it but I can admit it. Then a thought hit me." She glanced up, her eyes meeting his still blistering fully red ones. "It doesn't matter. I still love you Naruto-kun. That has not changed, and it won't change."

Sakura suddenly disappeared, and Naruto felt arms wrap around him from behind. His first instinct was to lash out, but he held his peace for the second to realize who was behind him.

"If you hate me so much, now's your chance to kill me Naruto-kun. I know you can with those tails, so go ahead. Put me out of my misery and kill me now, or find some way in your heart to forgive me one more time! I'M SORRY!" Sakura buried her face in Naruto's back, unable to think rationally at the moment.

One minute Naruto is so mad he can't even control his anger, and the next… silence. He could feel the demonic side of his personality was being shunted aside by his once more rational mind, allowing him to process the information coming in from his body. He felt a body violently shaking against his back, vague memories telling him it was Sakura. _'Damn demons… as if my life wasn't enough of a pain in the ass.'_

"Sakura, I'm fine. You can let go now."

She shook her head against him, tears soaking into his back. "No, I'll never let go of you, never again!"

'_Really? Well, this'll probably get me hit but at least she'll know I'm alright, mostly.'_ "Well, I guess that'll be interesting when one of us goes for a bath…"

She stiffened behind him, arms lock rigidly around his chest. He could feel her arms tightening, threatening to start cracking ribs before her arms loosened considerably. "Um, if you want."

Naruto's face instantly turned scarlet, blood running down his face from a bleeding nose. _'Is she serious!?'_ he screamed in his head. _**'Alright, papa getting' some tonight!'**_came another thought. _'Hey asshole, who let you in on this conversation!' __**'I let myself in. I can do that seeing as I AM you genius.' **__'Shut up, you're confusing me!'_

"Sakura, let's talk about that later, okay? Let's… get back to the others." Naruto pulled her arms off. "Come on, the others are probably waiting for us, and Sakura?" She looked up, eyes meeting his now red/blue ones. "Do me a favor, NEVER be afraid of me again. I can't stand you being afraid of me."

"I will. By the way, Naruto-kun?" He cocked his head to the side. Before he knew it, a fist connected to his cheek, sending his head to the side. "NEVER throw a rasengan at me again, or I swear I'll kill you."

He rubbed his sore cheek, muttering under his breath about mood-swinging women.

"What was that?"

"Ehh… nothing?"

* * *

Naruto and Sakura walked back, maybe not hand in hand as she would have preferred, but together nonetheless. When they came out onto the clearing caused by the battle, Naruto eyed the trio across from him. Tenten stood up, bowing slightly. "Sorry Naruto, you caught us by surprise, and we didn't know how to act."

Lee bowed, screaming at the top of his lungs, "I WILL NOT BE LEFT BEHIND! I SHALL MAKE UP FOR MY MISTAKE ONE HUNDRED FOLD!" Tenten, who had been right next to him when he started yelling, clubbed him over the head, knocking Lee out.

Neji, who had hardly moved since they reappeared, simply stood where he had been, leaned up against a tree. With a sigh of frustration he closed his eyes. "Sorry."

Coming from Neji, that was a LOT. Naruto nodded his head at each of them. "Don't worry about it, Sakura brow beat the anger outta me. We should head back. It seems pretty obvious this whole thing was an ambush."

"Wait, what're we gonna do about…" Tenten pointed her thumb over her shoulder at the two corpses laying on the ground.

"I guess we burn 'em." Neji said. Naruto walked over toward the two, and that's when the smell hit him. He moved closer, sniffing the air sharply. "Naruto, what are you doing?" Neji asked.

"These… aren't Sasuke and Orochimaru." he said. "They're fakes."

Sakura ran past him, kneeling at the corpse they had thought was Sasuke's. It took her nearly ten minutes to confirm, then reconfirm what Naruto said. "He's right, they're not who they look like. They were still ninja, but neither is Sasuke OR Orochimaru." Sakura and Naruto both sighed. There was still a chance Sasuke was still alive.

* * *

An orange masked man stood over the broken body of one of the demons he'd sent out to try to capture Kyuubi, it's dead brother a few hundred yards away. A dark chuckle left his lips upturned in a sadistic smirk. Another failed attempt, Kyuubi and those humans had long since left. **"Well at this rate I'll have to capture that damn fox myself. It's a good thing I have patience. However, you on the other hand…" **he said, addressing the dying demon, **"have failed me." **Faster than the demon could see, the masked mans' hand drove through it's head, sending grey matter and bone fragments flying. **"You're forgiven."**

"**Um, master?" **Madera turned, a small fork-tailed demon no bigger than a human hand stood, knees shaking in fright. **"Um, we have the report from your man in Konoha. It seems a large fox has been wandering the city, accompanied largely by the Kyuubi hybrid. The report states this other fox has five tails sir."**

Madera's eye lit up. **"Now that's an idea." **He pulled his hand out of the demons' head, ignoring the putrid stench of decaying demon flesh. Madera disappeared, leaving behind a terrified pygmy demon.


	6. Chapter 6: Troublesome Children

I don't own Naruto, or any of it's base charactors. This is just a fan fic, blah blah blah, so don't sue me dag nabbit! Anyway, read the AN after the story for info on Chp7. Enjoy!

**"Speach" -**Demon speach  
"Speach" -Human speach  
_**'Thought'**_ -Demon thought  
_'Thought'_ -Human thought

Chapter 6: Troublesome Children

It was all Misuni could do to not pout after Naruto left. _**'I wanted to come damn it! Why can't he realize I'm capable of taking care of myself?' **_Misuni transformed to her human appearance, hiding her tails under a genjutsu. Once her transformation was complete, she cracked a smile. **"Time to see if I can give these humans a more interesting life." **With that she leapt out of the apartment she and Naruto had been using. **"I'll make your life more… interesting, father."**

* * *

Out in the forest, Naruto suddenly sneezed. A cold feeling ran up his spine, sending a tremor down his back. "I've got a bad feeling about this…" he said to himself, loudly enough for the rest of his team to hear him.

Neji activated his eyes, looking around them for any signs of trouble, but saw none. "I see nothing out of the ordinary. Why do you say…"

"Call it a hunch Neji, from one prankster worrying about his kit." The ninja noted his use of the word kit, instead of kid, but mostly ignored it. Knowing Naruto, he'd do something like that just to bait them into one of HIS pranks. "I just get this feeling Misuni is up to no good, and *I* am going to end up paying for them." His ears laid down on his head, tails writhing more than normal in agitation.

Sakura walked up to Naruto, speaking in a soft tone, "I'm sure she's fine Naruto, don't worry about her. She seems capable of taking care of herself. Plus, if she gets out of hand, you CAN always spank her." Sakura finished with a grin on her lips, the image of a multi-tailed human bending a multi-tailed fox over his knee making her chuckle to herself. The image was so absurd she couldn't help herself.

When Lee and Tenten asked her why she was laughing, she shared the image, giving the entire group a good laugh, even the usually stoic Neji.

After their break, they ran on, heading back toward Konoha. Naruto couldn't keep his mind off his daughter, Kyuubi's memories reminding him that she was far more like Naruto than she was like Kyuubi. 'I've got a REALLY bad feeling about this…'

* * *

Misuni was having a blast! In the last week she had done everything she could think of, from replacing Tsunade's sake with vinegar to walking topless past a class full of academy students. In her human form, she would have been a cross between Sakura's hair length with dark red hair, Ino's hair style and figure, and Temari's brazen sexuality.

Much like Ino, she kept one eye covered with her shorter hair, tight fitting clothes doing nothing to hide her figure even when she bothered wearing them. Several times, an Anbu had confronted her, ordering her to wear proper clothing. One even went so far as to try to arrest her. He was still in the hospital recovering.

Misuni was on cloud nine, loving the attention, even if it was from humans. The poor boys in that school class would be popping erections for a month just thinking about her. Even the teacher had been effected, as his passing out with blood running from his nose would attest to.

_'**So, what else can I do? Dump naked pictures from the top of the flagpole… check. Tsunades sake… check. Topless around school… check. Genjutsu into Naruto and snoop around the bath house… check.'**_

She had particular fun with that last one. Ino and Hinata had both been in there, so Misuni was sure her new father figure would be on the receiving side of a female-induced beating when he came back. Hinata hadn't seemed to mind much, but then again she'd passed out right after seeing 'Naruto' peeping. Ino however, had been on the warpath ever since.

**_'Chase around the Inuzuka dogs… check. Catch Konohamaru with his pants down… double check!' _**That last one had been another she'd enjoyed.

She had managed to cast a genjutsu on Konohamaru's team during one of their D rank missions around the village, making Konohamaru think he was inside a guys restroom. Little had he known he really walked into the girls restroom, right after Moegi. Shortly thereafter, Konohamaru ran out of there, pants still around his ankles with his female team mate chasing him with Kunai in hand. That he somehow managed to stay out of her reach was impressive.

Misuni was still enjoying herself, chaos reining as her little stunts went off. She heard more than a few yells of, "NARUTOOOO!" from around the village, making her laugh even more.

Konohamaru ran by again, Moegi still on his tail when Misuni felt it. She felt the unmistakable dread of demon eyes on her back. She dropped her genjutsu, tails shaking slightly as she turned her head, golden eyes meeting Naruto's deep red ones. **"KIIIIIT!" **Misuni took off, Naruto meters behind her as he threatened to disembowel her with a plastic spatula. Sakura and Team Guy ran after them, only to find them two blocks down, a multi-tailed fox being spanked by a thoroughly ticked off multi-tailed human.

The image was enough to bring even Neji to tears as he laughed so hard.

* * *

Hidden in the shadows of a building a hundred yards away, a small snake shifted it's head, watching the spectacle before it. It's remarkably lucid eyes taking in everything as half demon actually spanked full-blooded demon. _**'Such a strange beast, this 'Naruto'.**_' it thought to itself. The snake, a familiar of Sune-kusi, first spawn of the snake demon king, rubbed it's chin on the ground, a gesture akin to scratching one's head in curiosity. _**'I should report this to Lord Sune-kusi. If the rumors are true,' **_it swallowed heavily, _**'he might be our only chance at beating Anima.'**_

The familiar slithered through a crack in the wall nearby, before slipping into a burrow leading to it's masters' lair.

* * *

Things had settled down mostly once Naruto and his team got resettled in Konoha. After some rather fast smooth talking he had managed to avoid TOO many beatings, no thanks in point to his daughter. Despite his aggravation with Misuni, he couldn't really fault her with the pranks she'd done. Hell, even HE didn't have the balls to come between Tsunade and her sake. A plus of his being chased and beaten by the females of Konoha had been Sakura's attention afterward as she strove to heal his wounds, although it was attention he would have preferred for some other reason. As Naruto struggled to fend off Sakura's 'nurturing healing', neither took the time to notice the pair of gleaming red eyes watching them from a distance.

* * *

"Naruto, get back here right now! I'm not through healing you yet damn it!" Sakura chased him down, no small feat even with him still injured from his most recent beatings from the women of Konoha. Secretly, she felt bad for the poor boy. He never seemed to catch a break, even under the most extreme conditions. "If you don't let me finish healing you I'll put you in the hospital and make SURE you stay there!"

She had been chasing him most of the last hour or so. Naruto had managed to stay one step ahead of her, but only just barely. As it was, he had exhausted most of his hiding spots trying to stay away from the impatient medic. His last hiding spot, a small lake not far outside the village had been his last objective, a place even Sakura probably didn't know of. Bad luck, however, had been on his side. As he slipped out of the village, Sakura caught sight of him, giving chase once more. Just as the lake came into view, Naruto heard a branch behind him snap. He tried to whip around to spot his pursuer, but never made it in time.

Sakura's arms wrapped around his back, encircling his chest and driving him to the ground on his stomach. Once his feet were out of position, she shifted her arms, transferring his body weight until he rested on his back, Sakura perched above him. Had his wind not just been knocked out of him, he would have given her a foxy grin, making some smart-ass comment about their… awkward position.

As it was, his more animalistic side DID notice, making him growl low in his throat. When she heard it, Sakura perked up suddenly. The noise didn't make her afraid, in fact she felt quite safe with him growling at her like that. _'Is that even growling? It sounds more like… no, it COULDN'T be…!' _She pulled her head close over his chest, placing an ear on his chest. The reverberations were unmistakable, he wasn't growling at her… he was PURRING at her!

Sakura's eyes became heavy-lidded, and she allowed her head to finish the distance from her head to his chest. Her cheek met his body, her head moving slowly until she found a comfortable position, her previous mission to heal him forgotten. "Hmm, so this is what it takes to get you on your back, eh?" she asked him, her face tipping upward just enough for their eyes to meet. "You're so comfortable, Naruto-kun."

"Sakura-chan, what're you doing?" he asked, feral voice quivering in a mix of emotions. He had wished to be in this position for most of his life, but the history of the last year or so with Sakura had not been entirely pleasant. Still, it had always been a dream of his he'd held on to. Sakura suddenly yawned, eyes peeking open. _'When did she close them?'_ Naruto asked himself.

"I'm making myself more comfortable. You don't mind, do you Naruto-kun?" With that she once more shut her eyes, a stray hand coming up to stroke one of his cheeks, absently stroking the whisker marks. The movement sent a shiver down his back, making his body seize up in pleasure.

It was all Naruto could do to control his limbs. He focused his entire being into not doing something that would upset Sakura, or incite her to get off of him. Consciously, subconsciously, mentally, and even emotionally, he didn't want her to leave. Despite his anger with her from before and right after his change, he had long since accepted himself as he was. 'Nothing he could do about it, so why worry?' he'd ask himself. With a mental shrug, he wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her further into his embrace.

There they rested, held in the position until Naruto noticed something. Sakura's left hand was still on his cheek, that he could feel for himself. He hadn't been aware of her RIGHT hand however, until she moved it… straight SOUTH! Without a second thought, Naruto tried to push Sakura back, unsure of her movement, but her left arm wrapped tightly around his neck, preventing her from moving more than a few inches from his body. Sakura could feel the proof of Naruto's yearning, as it was currently making itself known pressing into her stomach.

Slowly her fingers ran, until her finger tips rested a meager inch from his pants waist. Her eyes opened, seemingly glazed over as she looked into Naruto's. "Please, let me end the waiting. Let me SHOW you how much I love you Naruto-kun!"

This didn't seem like Sakura talking, but his sense of smell was quite accurate enough to tell if this was an imposter, which it wasn't. "Sakura, are you…okay? I get the feeling I'm missing something here…"

Sakura's left hand left his neck, placing a finger over his lips. "I know, I already know what's happening Naruto-kun. Your body started making pheromones right about when you started purring. I guess they're capable of effecting me, but I've already started to neutralize them." She bit her lip, but continued on, "However, that doesn't mean I'm not speaking MY mind right now. I really DO want to make love to you Naruto. I have since even BEFORE you left, I just didn't want to admit it, even to myself." She looked away shamefully. "I wouldn't have deserved you back then, and I don't think I deserve you now. Just please, PLEASE let me show you how much you mean to me!"

Sakura closed her eyes once more, tears threatening to leak out as she repressed her urge to cry. _'Some ninja I turned out to be.' _she thought to herself bitterly. _'One minute I'm begging for him in a pheromone-induced lust, and the next I'm crashing from their absence.'_

With a sudden lurch, Naruto was on his feet, Sakura still firmly in his arms. "Sakura-chan… hold on tight." One of her hands grabbed a handful of shirt, the other wound around his neck, her eyes never bothering to open. Without a second thought, Naruto used one of his speed techniques, zipping through the trees heading back to Konoha, completely unaware of the two sets of eyes watching him and Sakura. One pair a bright golden hue, the other a malevolent and baleful red.

As the pair got out of sight, the red eyes turned, focusing on the spot where he could sense those bright golden eyes. _**'She'll work for now.' **_Anima thought, creeping up on the oblivious five-tailed kitsune.

* * *

AN: For those that say Sakura is a little OOC, she's partly under the effect of Naruto's pheromones, which he hadn't even been aware of until she discovered them and started fighting them off. They act much like an aphrodisiac and drug combined, hence her 'crash' after she started purging them. I won't be using them anymore in this fic, as there won't be a place I could and/or would use them.

For those of you asking for a possible lemon, THERE WILL BE ONE NEXT CHAPTER! Salute - Bow - Cheer! For those of you asking for another fight scene and less drama, next chapter will ALSO have some of that as well, and I'm gonna make this one a doosie, as that last paragraph you could probably tell. Can anyone say 'pissed off parent'? Soon you get to see HOW much Naruto's power has grown, just not the full brunt of it, since that'll be in the final fight obviously, lawl.

As for my final note, I'm going to write a small background story on Misuni, including a proper description of her, as I don't recall ever describing her physically so far, aside from her tails and gold eyes. Where she came from, why she went searching for Kyuubi, ect. Keep an eye open for it!


	7. Chapter 7: Acceptance

AN: Okay, had to try and set the mood before I jumped RIGHT into the lemon, so that part of this chapter lasted a little longer than I thought it would. Don't want to go from my shortest chapter to a 15-20 page chapter, which this one would be if I added the fight scene to this chapter, so I'm added this chapter AND the next for the fight at the same time to keep my promise(mostly).

**"Speech" -**Demon speech  
"Speech" -Human speech  
**_'Thought'_** -Demon thought  
_'Thought' _-Human thought

* * *

Chapter 7: Acceptance

Naruto opened the door to his hotel room, carefully holding Sakura so she would not get jostled around. She had been lightly dosing ever since they made it back to Konoha. The pheromones from Naruto had been purged on the trip, allowing Sakura to relax without worrying about doing something foolish.

Naruto sniffed the room, but he could not smell Misuni._ 'Where is that kit?'_ he pondered, then shoved the thoughts aside. _'Bah, she hates me butting in anyway, she can take care of herself within Konoha.'_ He focused his attention back on the girl in his arms, carrying her like one would a child, she seemed so light. His eyes focused on the clawed hand from the arm supporting her back, the memories of his human years coming back.

Naruto growled softly, forcefully suppressing the old memories. They would do him no more good, except as a reminder of the ongoing change within him. At first Naruto and Kyuubi had been completely different personalities, but as time drug on Naruto had noticed the changes. Kyuubi seemed to be losing his influence, their memories merging more and more with every day. Sooner rather than later, Naruto knew there would no longer be even the small split between them as now.

Releasing a heavy sigh, Naruto shuffled inside the room. After pondering for a moment, he moved over toward the couch to lay Sakura down. Once he had her in a reasonably comfortable position, he threw a blanket over her and moved over toward the recliner facing the couch. With a plop, Naruto fell into the seat, making it rock back and forth. The motion eventually let his mind drift, as he watched the girl he'd always loved sleep. Maybe he hadn't always LIKED her, but his love… THAT had never changed.

* * *

Naruto slowly woke, groggily trying to remember where he was. Something warm and soft was rubbing his cheek, making him unwilling to open his eyes. Such a feeling shouldn't be ignored, after all. He allowed his mind to wonder, trying to remember what he had done before falling asleep. About a minute later, Naruto's eyes shot open, meeting the bright green of Sakura's own eyes.

"Hey, and to think I thought you were gonna just sit here and take it." She rubbed his cheek once more, causing Naruto to shudder. She grinned down at him, pleased that she could still get a reaction like that out of him. "Naruto-kun?" Her voice almost broke, mostly because of her concern about his answer to her next question.

Naruto starred at her, waiting.

"Will you ever forgive me?" The confused look that spread across his face would have been funny at any other time, except this one. Sakura pressed on. "Will you ever forgive me for… forcing this on you?" She grabbed one of his free hands with hers, pulling it into better view, the claws gleaming in the diffused sunlight.

Naruto looked down at his hand, flexing the hand into a fist before relaxing it once more. He looked back up at Sakura, her eyes displaying her sadness, but acceptance of the outcome soon to be. It took Naruto a minute to process what he was seeing in her, but it eventually worked its way into his head. 'She's serious? She still blames herself for this?' he thought to himself. "Sakura, YOU didn't do this to me. I'll admit, you helped it along, but…" He noticed her eyes watering up. "Stop, right now. Don't you even cry over something that would have probably happened eventually anyway."

He wrapped one of his tails around her waist, pulling her almost forcefully toward him. She had started moving back, away from him, which he had decided to put a stop to. "Listen to me, and listen well Sakura. Kyuubi WOULD have eventually made his attempt. I WOULD have beaten him when he did, and he WOULD have done this to me anyway. You incited it to happen earlier than it would have maybe, but it WOULD have happened." He reached his hand up, cupping her face with his palm. "I can't say I would have PREFERRED this happening, but it's given me what I wanted… in a round-about kinda way."

Sakura looked at him, flabbergasted that he would say such a thing. Before she could voice her opinion on Naruto's sanity, he continued.

"Joining with Kyuubi gave me the power I needed, truly NEEDED, to protect my loved ones. I found out you really love me, late but better than never. I have a daughter, maybe not a HUMAN one, but a daughter nonetheless. I care for her like ANY parent would for their child. I have the memories and experience of a being EONS older than me, but my human memories and experiences allow me to act like the kid I still AM. I didn't see it as a blessing when it happened, just a curse. Now, I CAN see the blessing it was, a mixed blessing sure, but still a BLESSING."

By this point Naruto had pulled Sakura onto the couch beside him, a pair of tails rubbing up and down her back to relax her. It had worked so far, making her sink further into the cushions. Absent-mindedly, she asked, "So you forgive me?" She looked over at him, their eyes locking.

In an unwavering tone, Naruto said, "Yes. I no longer believe it was even a bad thing, just poorly timed I guess. I no longer regret merging with Kyuubi, in fact I welcome it. I have accepted it." **_'It is time.'_**

Naruto didn't hear the thought, but felt the sudden shift within him. He looked around suddenly, weary of the building pressure within his body. "Sukura, something's… happening!" White chakra started beading on his chest, seeping through his clothes to permeate his clothes and body. It didn't burn like Kyuubi's chakra had when he was human, but it felt decidedly different now. It felt like… HIM! **_'We're complete!'_ **it seemed to think.

Naruto stood up, putting distance between him and Sakura. He didn't understand WHAT was happening, but didn't feel threatened by the event. A sudden DELUGE of shear POWER hit him, driving him to his knees. He growled in discomfort, but felt no true pain, just the feeling of the change._ 'What's going on?' **'The change.' **'What change?'_ Naruto asked himself. _**'Us, kit. Soon, we will no longer be us, we will only be.**' 'What the hell does that mean?' **'Two are finally becoming one.'**_

Before Naruto could respond to that, a BACK BREAKING surge of power hit him. Naruto felt as if he were under a mountains' worth of weight. Again, he felt no real pain, although the pressure building up inside his body was getting much worse, stronger. The room around him felt small, TOO small. He had to get out, get to open ground. He took off, running THROUGH the door as it splintered into a hundred or more pieces.

Naruto looked around, searching for a more wide open area, but could find none. Damn hotel had to be in the MIDDLE of the village. Another pressure spike hit, forcing the air around him away in a gust strong enough to blow shingles off houses._ 'No time!'_ He yelled in his head. In an instinct, he crouched low, gathering his full strength before leaping into the sky. He wasn't high enough, so he created a pair of clones that grabbed him, throwing him even further up and toward the wooded training grounds. Just as he reached the pinnacle of his flight, one last pressure spike hit him, the white chakra surrounding him erupting into a solid ball of power over two hundred feet across.

The ball hung there, shining brighter than the sun could ever have. The people of Konoha stood there, gapping at the ball simply hanging there. After nearly five minutes, suddenly the ball vanished, leaving behind a truly MASSIVE snow white fox, one even larger than Kyuubi at it's prime, with ten gleaming bleach white tails waving behind it. Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the fox shrank down, before suddenly vanishing.

* * *

An eight-headed snake turned toward the pulse, it's eyes starring unblinkingly at where the surge of power had come from, a seemingly endless power it had never felt before in it's eons of existence. It put on a thoughtful expression, it's many faces contorting this way and that as random thoughts hit it. _**'Such power would be a boon.' 'Could we convince him to aid us?' 'How do we bend such a being to our will?' 'Are WE insane enough to try?**'_ A myriad of other thoughts flashed through it's mind, but all revolved around the being who had just been thrust into the center of a fight which had lasted since before time was time._ **'I hope that fox is ready for this.'**_

* * *

Anima shot up, unease running through it's thoughts. He summoned his strongest manipulating demon and three of his strongest fighting thralls. Once they all arrived, Anima spoke in tense worded concentration, tracking the immensely powerful fox with his various senses. He looked at the manipulator, a human-ish looking demon with an exceptionally over-proportioned head to the rest of its body. **"Take my pet here, and use it to draw Kyuubi out of hiding. Do NOT lose control of it, or it will be your death, if not from HIM, then from ME!"**

He turned toward the other three demons. The first was exceptionally thin, almost unhealthily so, despite it's being only barely weaker than Anima himself. It's largest drawback was it's weak mental defenses, which had allowed Anima his control. If not for it's inability to think ahead more, it would have been even stronger than most demon kings/queens. As it was now, it was still the physically strongest demon Anima had ever come across.

The next, the smartest of the demons, and most powerful of the three overall, had been a pain since Anima had tricked it into slavery. It had nearly won it's freedom from Anima through it's sheer intelligence. It was a master strategist, known for outthinking it's opponent, or leading it's prey into a trap the prey would create for themselves, before attacking from an unexpected angle and decisively overwhelming it's opponent. It was also the most human-like of the trio, allowing it to mingle with the humans it had preyed on before it's capture.

The final demon, the most inhuman of the trio, was an almost polar opposite of the first, a truly MASSIVE bulk sustained by it's diet of mostly rock and earth minerals. Despite it's sheer size, it was the absolute fastest demon Anima had managed to capture. It's power came, not through power, but by it's truly insane speed and body made of a rocky substance, diamond-like crystal protrusions sprouting from it's body at random areas which it could use to slice it's enemies apart. It's body also allowed it to fuse with the earth and travel through the ground unimpeded.

Anima smirked to himself. **_'Even Kyuubi can't beat these three working together, not with HER attacking him at the same time as a distraction.'_** He grinned to himself, knowing that fox would finally fall to him. **"I have a mission for you. That one,"** he said, pointing at the diminutive manipulator, **"is going to use that fox to distract the Kyuubi no Kitsune. While that is happening, you are to BRING THAT DEMON DOWN! I don't care if you have to beat him to within an inch of his life, you WILL subdue him, then bring him here before me to face my wrath. Long have I owed that demon for breaking my control, and I WILL have my judgment! Fail me… and you will beg for my torture, for what I do to your souls will be far worse should you fail me… now GO!"**

The four demons ran, unwilling to remain in the presence of Anima in one of his rages. That was a fate not even demons wished to experience.

* * *

Just as suddenly as Naruto had disappeared, he quickly reappeared, nearly startling Sakura out of her skin.

Sakura was awed by his changes, especially his eyes. Before he left, his eyes had been their more recent red/blue configuration. Now, they were blue, completely ice blue. His fur, tails, and ears had been a reddish orange, but now were completely white, just like the chakra he had emitted earlier. He had left before with nine tails, but now Sakura counted ten, whenever she could get them still long enough to count anyway. Lastly, before he left Sakura had only felt one thing, Naruto. THIS Naruro, had a presence around him, a sense of sheer POWER Sakura had never felt before, even remotely.

"Na... Naruto?" Sakura walked up to him cautiously. When she stood in front of him, she saw that his whisker marks had become even more pronounced. The only time she had seen them do that was when his demonic anger had taken over. She took an involuntary step back, but then caught herself and approached him once more, a hand reaching out to him. "Are you okay, Naruto-kun?"

A grin split his face, looking even more silly than his grins had as a full human. "I'm fine Sakura-chan, I'm better than fine in fact." He scratched the back of his head bashfully. "It's just me again!" he exclaimed. He rushed forward, taking Sakura completely by surprise as he wrapped his arms around her, a tail molding to her back to hold her closer.

Sakura shuddered, feeling the power in his arms, tail, body, even his breath as it caressed her neck. She felt her face warm, a blush covering her face as her mind wandered. "Naruto-kun, what… HAPPENED to you?" she finally asked, still shocked by his presence.

"Me and Kyuubi, we finally… well I guess I should say *I* now, anyway, we were slowly merging together after Kyuubi merged his power with my soul. We were slowly adapting, I guess you could say, to the merge between our power and personalities. I knew we were close to completing that change, I just didn't think it was going to be so… complete when it happened." Naruto pulled back, making Sakura miss the tactile contact already. "There IS no more Kyuubi personality in me now. Now it's just me. I guess I could change my name to fit me better, but I'm partial to Naruto still."

Naruto bent low until his mouth was beside Sakura's left ear. "You smell delightful Sakura." He pulled back, Sakura seeing the grin plastered on his face as he pulled back.

For a moment she didn't understand why he had pointed that out. Should she smell bad or something? The comment made no real sense. As she contemplated the statement, a barely detectable musk hit her. Her face lit up with a blush that would have done Hinata proud._ 'Had he really smelled THAT? Please God tell me it's not what he meant?!'_ She looked up at his face once more, catching the twinkle in his eyes. Once more her eyes fell, embarrassment forcing her to hide her face in his chest.

_'I can't believe he said that!'_ "Naruto?" She pulled back, eyes meeting his. Without a word, she reached up to grab him by the back of his head, grabbing a fist full of light blond hair and white fur, before pulling his lips down to hers. Electric! That was the only word she could think of to describe the sensation afterward. As it happened, her mind had completely shut down all direct thought, running solely on an instinct she hadn't known she possessed.

His hands reached down to her lower back, roughly pulling her body into contact with his as their kiss deepened, their mouths opening to allow tongues to come out and play. They dueled almost violently, neither willing to submit to the other as their passion mounted. After a minute, or maybe five, Naruto broke away from Sakuras' mouth long enough to latch his lips on the side of her neck, kissing and sucking on the tender flesh, occasionally nipping her lightly with his sharper than normal teeth.

Sakura groaned in the back of her throat, her hands reaching between them long enough to find the buttons of the shirt he wore, only then realizing it was torn apart and only just managing to hang onto his chest. Without thought, she grabbed the scraps of the ruined garment before tearing them apart, ripping what little fabric had survived until it fell from his chest. His muscles stood in relief, appearing slightly more defined than the last time she had seen him shirtless, a month before he had run away.

The memory returning, she calmed down enough to try to speak, however Naruto wouldn't have that. He attacked her neck once more, driving the thought from her mind as a soft moan escaped her lips. Her hands reached around his back, nails driving into his back nearly hard enough to draw blood as she clawed at his back. "Naruto!" she gasped. His tails had wrapped around her body, the furry appendages strong upon her well muscled frame.

Sakura wanted more, NEEDED more. Her clothes were beginning to feel stifling, so her hands started running from top to bottom, popping buttons as they traveled. Once they were undone, she pulled the front of her shirt apart, tossing it behind her as she pressed her bra-covered breasts against his well-muscled chest and stomach. The extra sensory contact between their skin sent a thrill up their spines once more, Sakura grabbing his head to once more try to duel his tongue.

Their breathing was labored, coming in deep, ragged gasps. Sakura jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist even as his hands and a tail moved to hold her up. Neither realized nor cared as Naruto stumbled toward his room, shutting the door behind him before walking toward the bed. Once there, Sakura slid back to her feet before turning them around, pushing Naruto back until his knees hit the side of the bed. Having no where to go, his legs gave out, sending him crashing to the bed.

Naruto looked up at her, eyes smoldering as she stood before the bed posing in such a way Naruto found INCREDIBLY sexy. Her hips cocked to the side as a fist rested on her out-thrust hip, her other arm rested limply next to her, eyes blazing down at him filled with both love and lust. Not to be outdone, Naruto wrapped a pair of tails around her upper legs before lifting her up off the ground and dropping her on top of him. Just after catching her, he flipped over, ending with her below him and he slammed his lips into hers.

Sakura tried to flip them back over, but he weighed too much, so she conceded this round to him and enjoyed the kiss. A minute or so after Sakura gave in, Naruto broke their kiss then trailed a line of wet kisses down her chin, neck, and onto her upper chest. Her breath hitched in her throat, hoping he was going further south. He seemingly read her mind, although instead of removing her bra he kissed down between the valley of her chest and continued south.

Naruto's mouth on her sensitive stomach muscles caused her lower body to twitch slightly, but she held still as well as she could as she waited for him to do more. Once his mouth reached the hem of her pants, he brought his hands in to unbuckle her belt and pop the buttons holding the offending garment onto her shapely body. The offending belt and buttons taken care of, he SLOWLY pulled her pants down.

The pace was agonizing, for both of them, however neither wished to rush their first experience by rushing. Once Naruto had her pants removed, he looked up her body, stopping for a moment to admire her light blue half-thong panties._ 'I always thought she'd be wearing pink down there.'_ he thought, then shrugged it aside. He looked further up, coming up short as he starred at her breasts, previously hidden from view by her bra, but no more.

Naruto DROOLED, his eyes becoming heavy-lidded as he took in the beauty of the girl he had loved all his life. "Sakura…" Before he could say another word she had sat up, a finger over his lips.

When she pulled her finger away from his mouth, a wide grin crossed her lips as she sunk to her knees before him, hands finding and deftly undoing his belt buckle and pants. Her task completed, she pulled his pants down until they pooled at his ankles. Her eyes had not gone further south than just below his waist, firmly glued to the prominent bulge in his underwear. For a full minute, she remained there, staring unseeingly at her objective.

Naruto looked down at her as she stared at his barely covered erection. A blush filled his face, but he pushed it aside with contemptuous ease. He reached down, a hand cupping her face until she looked up at him, their eyes once more meeting. There they stayed, neither seeming to know where to go from there. Finally Sakura moved, standing up to wrap an arm around Naruto, pulling their chests' together. The pair moaned in unison at the contact, Sakura feeling the bulge of Naruto's cock pressing into her lower stomach, only two very thin pieces of cloth separating them.

Intending to repay Sakura for her first assault on him in the bed, Naruto picked her up without even trying, tossing her lightly onto her back in the bed. She landed with a shriek, before laughing softly. "Feisty now, are we?" she asked, watching as he climbed onto the bed on all fours, tails flashing behind him. He growled softly as he approached, making Sakura laugh even more. She could see the laughter in his eyes.

As his head became level with her waist, his head bent down until his lips came into contact with her covered sex. Her eyes clamped shut, a ragged gasp escaping her lips. In her addled mind, she never felt his hands pulling on the blue fabric keeping her hidden from his eyes. Once the sensations died down Sakura opened her eyes to find Naruto's head a foot away from her hips, looking right at her most private of places. She had to resist the urge to cover the exposed area, letting him look at her body all he wanted.

Naruto, for his part, sat there in a trance. It was the first time he had ever seen a fully nude female outside of nude magazines, and even then it had been tasteful nudes. This was blatantly sexual, and with a girl he deeply cared for, making it that much more exciting for him. Sakura gazed down at him, love and a LOT of lust smoldering in her eyes. "I want you Naruto. I want you in me, where you belong!"

Who was he to argue with that? Naruto stood up off the bed, pulling his boxers down his legs as Sakura watched. When his cock sprung free, her eyes locked onto it unwaveringly. Completely naked, Naruto climbed once again on all fours up the bed until he hovered over Sakura's body. Their breathing was heavy and labored from the tension of the situation, but neither would wish it differently. "I'll be gentle." Naruto said. He knew it was probably her first time, so he might hurt her otherwise. He might be an idiot sometimes, but he wasn't THAT dense!

She nodded her head before pulling his lips down to hers, her other hand reaching down to grasp his cock in her hand. He moaned his approval of that into her mouth, feeling her guide him into position. A second, or maybe an hour later, he felt his cock slip into a narrow hole and he pushed lightly. It sunk further in, to which Sakura groaned heavily into his kiss. After another couple inches, he felt resistance. He gave her a few more strokes, making sure she was okay before he forced his way through. When he guessed, and hoped, she was ready he thrust forward as hard and deep as he could, feeling the resistance tearing under his assault.

Sakura tried to suck the air out of his lungs, the sudden urge to scream as the sharp sting inside her brought tears to her eyes. Naruto froze in place, breaking their kiss to look down into her watering eyes. "I'm sorry Sakura." he said, leaning down to kiss her tears away.

It took a minute or two, but Sakura felt the pain ease away into the pleasant sensation it should. "Naruto, you can try moving now." He did as asked, gently pulling back before slowly inching back into her. _'Oh yea, the pain is gone now!'_ she thought. During his next stroke, she rolled her hips into him, inciting a groan from Sakura. Fuck did that feel good! Naruto picked up his pace as he pistoned in and out of the girl below him, leaning his face down to kiss her savagely.

Sakura grabbed his back in her hands, claws once more sinking into his back as she fought to remain conscious of the sensations flowing through her pussy. Faster, she wanted him to go faster! When she voiced the opinion, Naruto picked up his pace, but not enough for Sakura's taste. Giving a growl, Sakura clamped her legs around his lower body, holding him inside her before pushing them over. Naruto landed on his back, driving him that much more into Sakura as she started bucking and rolling her hips. Finding an angle she liked, Sakura started bouncing up and down on his cock.

Naruto growled at his loss of control, but the sensations drown out any argument he may have voiced. Instead, he reached up to grab a hand full of her breast, sitting up to wrap his lips around the others' nipple. The extra sensations made Sakura growl deep in her throat, making her bounce even more erratically than before as the sensations started overwhelming her. "Naruto! Oh fuck!"

Naruto stopped his breast play to wrap his arms around Sakura, pulling out of her only long enough to flip her around onto her hands and knees. A second later, Naruto was behind her, his cock lined up with her pussy before plunging back into her. Naruto bent over her and nipped at her neck as he thrust deeply into her. That did it. Sakura's arms collapsed, her head falling into the pillow on the bed as the sensation hit her. Her breathing was beyond labored, coming in short gasps as Naruto made love to her. She turned to look back at him, seeing his straining muscles as he tried to hold back his orgasm.

She was close, so VERY close. She flexed her muscles inside her stomach, rolling her hips one last time. That seemed to do it. Her eyes remained locked on Naruto's face as she watched him lose control, feeling him spasm inside her. A sudden warm, wet splash hit the back of her pussy, and that was all she needed.

Sakura explode. No other word could do it justice. Her insides clamped down, locking Naruto in place almost painfully as waves of muscle contractions tried to milk every drop Naruto had to give from his body. A wave of pleasure, the likes of which neither had experienced before, crashed into them. Try as he might, Naruto could not move inside Sakura anymore, so he did the next best thing and bent down to her face, locking his lips over hers. Their tongues dueled, prolonging the experience as they rode the wave of pleasure.

They both relaxed, Naruto softened inside her until he slipped out, trailing a mess of their bodily fluids as they both settled into the bed, Sakura's back to Naruto's chest in a spoon. His arms draped across her stomach, pulling her into firm contact with his chest. "I love you, Sakura-chan."

She pulled the arm draped over her body upward, kissing his palm before holding it firmly to her breast. "I love you too, Naruto-kun." The pair fell asleep in each others' arms, dreams of a happy life meeting them in the night.


	8. Chapter 8: Parenthood

**"Speech" -**Demon speech  
"Speech" -Human speech  
_**'Thought'**_ -Demon thought  
_'Thought'_ -Human thought  
***Speech/though*** -telepathic communication

* * *

Chapter 8: Parenthood

Narutowoke to a strange sensation in his hand. In his sleep addled brain, he gave the object a squeeze, causing a giggle from somewhere._ 'Wait, giggling? What the..?'_Naruto opened his eyes, staring up at an awake Sakura beside him.

"Hey lover, how was your night?" she asked, a grin plastered on her face. He still hadn't removed his hand from her breast, a fact she didn't bother correcting.

He closed his hand, groping a handful of breast in his hand. "How do you think?" he asked back, before planting a kiss on her lips. He pulled back, something gnawing on his senses, but he couldn't think of what quite yet so pushed he the feeling aside. "Come on Sakura-chan, let's start getting up. I have a feeling we need a shower." He pulled the sheet over them up and off, allowing the smell to waft over them. "Yeap, definitely need a shower." he said chuckling.

The pair got moving, both being playful but keeping their misconduct to a minimum. Sakura cooked some breakfast for the pair, no easy task as most of his food in the place consisted of ramen of some kind or another. They both sat down to eat, stealing glances at one another when they thought the other wouldn't notice. Sakura thought the place was too quite, so she asked Naruto about it.

"Yeah, come to think about it, it is a little too quite. Misuni is normally…" and he trailed off, sniffing the air.

Sakura gave him a curious look. "Naruto? What's wrong?" she asked, seeing his face falling.

"Misuni isn't here, and she didn't come back last night. Last time she was here was almost a day and a half ago… I'vetold her not to stay out too much, so I can think of only two reasons she's been gone so long. One, she's deliberately pushing my patience, or two… she can't come back." He trailed off after that, a pensive expression on his face. Naruto made his normal crossed seal hand sign, creating half a dozen normal shadow clones. "Misuni is missing, find her." The clones vanished to complete their task.

"Naruto, I'm sure she's fine. Maybe she just wanted to give us some space? Don't worry too much about her until after your clones bring her back, okay?" Naruto nodded his head in agreement, but couldn't bring himself to relax, despite Sakura's attempts to calm him.

It was a tense fifteen minutes before the first clone dispelled itself, reporting no sign of her. The second and third came shortly thereafter with again no sign of her. The forth, however, had found her trail. The clones' anger became well known before it dispelled itself, releasing a roar of such loss and pain Sakura could feel it in her bones. The lament was repeated by Naruto when it dispelled, it's memories flooding into his memory._ 'Misuni, oh Misuni…'_Naruto ran outside, his clothes flapping in the wind as he leapt to the roof.

He ROARED, shaking the entire building as his power rolled off of him in waves, calling out his challenge to the beast that had his daughter. "ANIMA!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, cracking the building beneath his feet. Naruto couldn't control his anger, lashing his arms outward to slam together sending a bolt of pure chakra through the sky. It hardly settled his fury, his fur standing on end as his tails lashed out around him. "I will kill you for this Anima, that is a promise."

* * *

Sakura made her way up to the roof after throwing on her shirt from the night before. She found Naruto standing stock still, only his tails moving to show his anger from behind him. "Naruto? We'll get her back, I promise." She wrapped her arms around his back, a pair of tails encircling her.

"Thank you Sakura, but this doesn't have anything to do with you. This is MY fight, MY tormentor, and I CAN'T let someone else try to fight him." Naruto pulled her arms off, stepping away from her.

"Naruto! Let me help you, PLEASE!? I can't lose you, not now!" Naruto disappeared from view, Sakura feeling his presence behind her.

"You'll never lose me Sakura." He touched her neck, sending a pulse of chakra up to her head, disrupting the signals to her brain long enough to render her unconscious. He caught her as she fell, bringing her inside to the bed they had shared the night before. He made an advanced shadow clone, one capable of taking damage, and ordered it to guard her with it's life. Then, without another word, Naruto disappeared out the door and out of Konoha.

* * *

The Manipulator came to a stop, feeling Naruto's presence shift closer. **"He nears us."**it called out, causing the other three demons to spread out and take up positions. Once again, Naruto shifted closer, his enhanced speed technique letting him traverse a great distance quickly and with ease. **_'Just a little more.'_ **the Manipulator thought to itself, feeling the young fox in it's mind.

The young fox demon had been struggling with his control, but it had not even come close to freeing itself. ***I will enjoy toying with you, once your parent has been brought to his knees youngling. Perhaps Anima will allow me to keep you as my full time pet once we succeed?***it spoke to her mind. Misuni gave a shuddering breath, but otherwise could not voice her opinion of that, locked away inside her own mind.**_ 'Father! Please help me, it hurts!'_** she whimpered within the confines of her mind.

The Manipulator was saved from further badgering it's victim, by the appearance of a small humanoid figure. It had white fur, fox-like features, and ten tails waving frantically behind it. The Manipulator could feel his power, even stronger now than before, feel the beings' towering rage and indignation as an almost tangible thing.

The four demons took in the new comer, then looked at the kitling they controlled. The white-furred fox faced off against the four demons, before he noticed the little kit. The anger the four demons had felt coming from the adult fox increased exponentially, maybe even greater than Anima's himself. The Manipulator sent a thought through Misuni, causing her body to grow to it's full size, towering nearly thirty feet high. Then her body interposed itself between the Manipulator and Naruto, using her as a shield from his anger.

Naruto's eyes became slits, his white fur standing on end, shining with his anger. His eyes turned completely red, much like his human days when his anger overcame him. However, this time there was no demonic anger to overwhelm his mind, only the overwhelming anger of a parent seeing it's child in danger.

Narutostood there, sizing up the other three demons as they moved to encircle him. He had to act fast if he wanted to beat them and save Misuni, so he created another three advanced shadow clones, then a couple hundred normal shadow clones. "You lot," he said, addressing the normal clones, "use any ranged attacks you can to try and take down those demons. You three," he addressed the advanced clones, "engage the other three demons. I'm getting my daughter back…"

Before he had even finished talking, the normal shadow clones were already forming rasengan and rasen-shuriken with practiced ease, ready to begin throwing them at their targets. Naruto glared at the quartet of demons, white chakra leaking out around his hands. "Let… her… go." Naruto forced his voice out in a firm but reasonable volume, knowing his screaming would accomplish nothing here.

The small demon holding Misuni shuffled backward, putting more distance between him and the pissed off fox. Speaking through Misuni, it said,***That will not happen Kyuubi. We are here for you, and we will not fail our master. Facing you is preferable to facing HIM.***

Misuni charged at her father, making Naruto back peddle as he avoided his daughters attacks. The Manipulator released part of his control on her, controlling her body but allowing her mind to return to the surface and understand the situation. **"FATHER! I can't stop my body! Please help me!"**Tears ran down her face, even as her mouth opened to blast a wave of chakra at the still dodging Naruto.

Naruto dodged the blast, feeling a clone get dispelled from the blast when it hadn't seen the attack coming. Naruto dodged another series of blasts as he felt more clones get dispelled from the three demons they fought._ 'Strength, speed, and brains… this is gonna be troublesome.'_The next time Misuni shot a chakra blast at him, Naruto didn't bother dodging, extending a hand out to deflect it toward the thin demon fighting his clones behind him.

He didn't bother looking to see if it hit or not, leaping into an offensive attack on Misuni to try and incapacitate her. The demon controlling her knew he would never actually hurt her, so he pressed her attacks on Naruto, making her body dodge just enough to avoid losing his shield from Naruto.

The fight was starting to aggravate Naruto, having to hold back so he didn't hurt his daughter was simply making the fight drag on, however he flat out refused to really hurt her. "Sorry about this Misuni." Naruto drove a hand toward her forehead, hand open and palm out. She had no chance to dodge, and took the light blow to her head. Just as the hand connected, Naruto pumped his chakra into the hand and through her head.

Misuni was unable to resist the surge of power flooding through her mind as it severed her body control and consciousness. She fell limply, Naruto catching her before she could hit the ground. He cradled her body, completely ignoring the fighting around him or the little demon panicking as it tried to regain control of his victim. Naruto brushed a strand of her fur back into place, kissing the top of her head before standing up, his daughter held in his arms.

With a deft movement, he created an advanced shadow clone and handed Misuni's body to it. "Take her back to Konoha, and make sure she's taken care of. Don't stop for ANYTHING."

The clone nodded at him. "What about you and the others?" It gestured at the other clones fighting.

"We send a message to every demon, both here and the Demon Planes… don't fuck with me or mine." The clone nodded at Naruto.

"Throw a few punches for me boss." With that, the clone disappeared from sight as it ran in the direction of Konoha. The entire exchange lasted maybe thirty seconds, during which time the rest of the normal shadow clones had been dispelled by the three other demons. The thin demon smirked at Naruto, which Naruto replied with a feral grin.

"Now that the distractions are out of the way, how about rearranging the scenery a little?" Naruto asked. He charged at the strength demon, barely dodging it's punch before driving a fist into it's stomach. It bent forward a little, but otherwise didn't move from the force of his attack.

**"Not bad, but not good enough."**it said, a hand reaching around to grab the back of his head. The demon's fingers reached nearly around to Naruto's face, wrapping his head in a vice-like grip that prevented him from moving beyond it's reach. Narutofelt a sudden increase in air pressure behind me, before a fist drove into his left kidney, sending a pulse of pain through his body that made his knees buckle as he screamed in anguish.

The blow wasn't hard compared to what the thin demon holding his head could have done, but the speed of the demon had increased the force behind it. Naruto slumped down, even as he sensed the third combat demon approach from his right._ 'Almost… there.'_ When the demons were within about five feet of him, a sudden grin split his mouth.

A scream of rage on his lips, Naruto formed a rasenganin each hand and drovethem together within the circle of demons. The third demon managed to escape mostly, having been the furthest away and being smarter than the other two had allowed it to see his potential counterattack before it happened. The massive speed demon had escaped largely, although one of it's arms had been caught in the blast before it could get out of range. The strength demon holding Naruto, however was a completely different story.

It's rail-thin body took the brunt of the explosion. It's arm holding Naruto was ripped off, it's torso being twisted in opposite directions until it nearly split in two from the torsion. It's head spun in an awkward angle on it's neck as it flew backward, landing in a broken heap of twisted limps, black blood pooling under from it's mouth. Naruto used a replacement technique just before he was caught in the blast himself, but still took a few chakra burns from the powerful blast. 'That's one down, one injured.'

The Manipulator took his chance when he noticed Naruto's back to him, driving it's mind into Naruto's to try and either gain control of him or distract him for the others. It felt Naruto's mind, wedging itself into his mind as Naruto fell to one knee grasping his head as the Manipulator tried to get control. White chakra formed around his left hand as he held it up in the direction he felt the demon in. The chakra lanced out, a hand on it's end that grabbed the Manipulator by it's neck as it shouted in shock at the attack.

The speed demon tried to ambush Naruto as he drug the Manipulator toward him, but had to dodge a sudden flurry of chakra bullets from a clone that had somehow been missed from earlier. It dispelled the clone, but by then it was too late for the Manipulator.

"So that's what you did to my daughter, huh?" The demon was almost nose to nose with Naruto, shivering as it starred into pure blood red eyes. Before it could answer, the white chakra around it's neck constricted, completely crushing the neck of the tiny demon. "That's two down." Naruto said aloud, eyes moving to the human-like strategist carefully. "Care to make it three?" he asked casually.

The demon allowed a smile to cross it's features, bluish-black teeth displayed.**"I think not, but thanks for the offer Kyuubi. I think I've learned all I need to about you by now."**It's eyes flickered to Naruto's left and just behind him, then flicked right back to stare at him. Seeing the eye movement, Naruto leapt to his right and forward, only to feel a blow connect to the back of his head.

It felt like his head was trying to come off his shoulders, a throb unlike even one of Sakura's or Tsunade's punches blossoming in his head. Narutowent flying, smashing through several trees before smashing into a boulder that stopped his movement. He tried to stand on shaky legs, but seemed unable to, so used a pair of his tails to give him additional support. _'What in the hell was that?'_ Before he could think anything else, he felt an arm wrap around him, pulling his body into the boulder hard enough to crack his ribs.

He screamed as agony erupted from his back, spikes of crystal sprouted from the rocky demon and piercing into his back and through his body to sprout from his shoulders and stomach. In the haze trying to creep into his sight, Naruto saw the unhurt humanoid demon walking up to him, a smug expression on it's face.**"Next time Kyuubi, don't underestimate your enemies. Oh, wait, there won't be a 'next time', will there?"**

A sheepish grin came to Naruto's face, making the demon stop in it's tracks. "You should have… taken your… own… advice…"

A pair of hands burst from the ground under the humanoid demon, white chakra wrapping around it's legs and ankles before pulling it under the ground up to it's neck. A clone appeared in the sky, rasen-shuriken in hand. Taking aim, the clone threw the orb of wind and chakra down at the demon's head. The orb struck, tearing the earth apart even as it expanded to consume the buried demon and Naruto's last clone.

The speed demon stared in shock at the crater forming from the orb, trying to pull back to put distance between itself and the ever expanding ball of chakra. It tried to retract it's crystal spears from Naruto's back, but his hands wrapped around the blood-soaked minerals. "I'm not… done with you yet." It shook in fright, trying to pull back even harder, but to no avail. Naruto felt his white chakra run down his body, suffusing his ten tails with it's power, before he turned them hard enough to pierce stone.

The ten tails shot out behind him, driving through the demon and into the rock it was partially inside. The demon shook, the pain of being pierced by the ten tails unable to reach the demon, whose mind was in complete shock. "Die." It was the last thing the demon heard, as all ten tails traveled in different directions tearing his body and the boulder apart. Black blood mixed with Naruto's red human blood as Naruto fell to his knees, the pain and exhaustion of the battle finally catching up with him.

Naruto collapsed, landing face first in on a patch of rocky dirt kicked up from the fight. His eyes slowly closed, when he heard footsteps approaching. He looked up, unable to be surprised as he stared up at Anima, orange spiral mask showing his single eye, that eye gleaming in triumph. **"You managed to save your kit, a remarkable feat, but in the end Kyuubi, I still win**." Anima bent down, a fist connecting with the side of his head hard enough to half bury it into the ground, knocking him out.

Naruto's final thought before blackness overtook him was, _'She's safe, that's all that matters'_

* * *

Some distance away, the clone carrying Misuni watched as Naruto continued to fight off the remaining demons. It winced from seeing himself be run through with crystal, but he continued watching. When he saw the original fall to the ground, he moved to help him, but came up short, once more hiding behind a tree as he noticed movement… more demons… and Anima himself. _'Fuck me sideways.' _the clone swore, before turning and running once more.

His mission was to get Misuni to safety, and fighting off multiple demons with the original Naruto knocked out wouldn't accomplish anything. _'I'll get help, hang on Boss.' _It ran on, heading for Konoha as fast as it could move.


	9. Chapter 9: Decisions

I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters herein. The storyline and all non-canon charactors however, are all MINE!

"Hello" character speech  
'Hello' character though  
HELLO character yelling or emphasizing a statement/word  
**Hello** Demon speech

Chapter 9: Decisions

Blackness slowly gave way to light as Sakura regained consciousness. She struggled to remember what happened, only to draw a blank. It took her a moment, laying there on the bed before she managed to replay the last events she could recall. Waking up to Naruto pawing her as he slept, their shower together, breakfast, Misuni… Sakura lurched up as the memory finally struck._ 'Misuni!'_

Sakura looked around, not seeing Naruto anywhere. "Damn it, he must have knocked me out somehow!" She growled, deep in her throat. "Naruto you baka, we are going to have words when I find you!" Sakura looked over at the clock on the wall. It was well past noon, meaning she had been knocked out for quite awhile, more than enough time for Naruto to put some major distance behind him. Sakura stood up on shaking legs, her equilibrium still off from the chakra pulse to her head.

She focused her chakra into a hand, placing the hand on her head to correct the minor disturbances to her chakra network. Once her balance was restored, Sakura set off for the Hokage tower, intent on letting Tsunade know what had happened. _'Baka… take care of yourself, don't you dare break your promise to me…'_

* * *

Naruto had been gone for a day now. When he hadn't returned within a few hours of Sakura waking up, she had asked Tsunade to send messages to the villages nearby, including those with strong ties for Naruto, such as Suna and River villages. Now it was just a matter of time before they received word from the others. During the time he'd been gone, however, Sakura was getting decidedly more uneasy.

Sakura made it to Tsunade's office in record time, and she felt as if she'd walked into a scene from the Twilight Zone. There before Tsunade, was a massive snake-like being. Fully thirty feet long, eight heads resting upon short and stumpy necks, it was an incredible sight. Each of it's heads seemed to be examining a different part of the room, adding to the surreal spectacle.

One of those heads turned its gaze on her, vibrant purple colored eyes taking her in, before returning it's gaze elsewhere. **"So she iz the one the fox fought for."** It continued to stare at her for a minute, before pointedly looking away. Sakura could only stare at the obviously unnatural being.

Tsunade turned toward Sakura, her eyes displaying a sadness they hadn't expressed in decades. "Sakura, please come in. We were just discussing our plans for the newest incident." Tsunade looked toward a back corner, one hidden from view unless you were inside the room fully. Sakura walked inside more, still weary of the demonic being before her sensei.

Once fully inside the room, Sakura stopped. Her eyes took in the sight, a fully tailed Naruto sitting near Misuni, the young fox still unconscious. "Naruto!" Sakura tried to step toward the man she loved, only to feel a vice-like grip upon her left arm, halting her in place.

"**He iz not who he seemz, human. Leave him be."**

The hand released her, and Sakura turned, then looked up. The demon hovered over her, several of it's heads looking at her intently. Sakura took a step backward, then turned to look into the corner once more. Her seeing the man she loved returned her courage, and she stepped up to, then around the demon. It didn't try to stop her, merely following her with it's eyes.

Once past the demon, she turned fully back toward the corner and walked swiftly to the pair. Sakura stopped a few feet from Naruto, squatting down to more closely be within his reach. "Naruto? Naruto, look at me, if you ca…"

"I'm not him." the clone said, interrupting her. "I'm the last clone the boss made to get Misuni out of there and to safety." The clone looked up, breaking it's gaze from Misuni to stare into Sakura's eyes. "Take care of her, Sakura."

Sakura reached a hand out, her palm caressing one of Naruto's whisker-marked cheeks. The clone pressed into her hand, a single tear running down it's face to her hand. Before she could comment further, the clone dispersed, leaving Sakura to stare glassy-eyed at the moisture on her hand. She turned toward the others in the room. "They captured him, didn't they." It was more a statement than question, but Tsunade nodded anyway. "Tsunade, we HAVE to get him back! We can't just leave him there!"

The demon gave a derisive snort. **"Not likely, human." **The rest of the rooms' occupants stared at the monstrous snake. **"I've had some of my servants tracking Anima, both after hiz capture of the five-tailed kit and after the fight when Kyuubi was captured. Since they've returned to his lair, my servants have seen no lesss than five greater demonz and nearly twenty lessser demons. Even if I had all my alliez here and we joined with you humanz, we would STILL be short of combatants to fight them. That'z NOT including Anima himself**." It turned it's eyes solely on Sakura, all eight heads trying to burn her courage out with it's stare.

Sakura met it's stare, making up for in quality what she lacked in quantity. Her eyes smoldered, displaying nothing but a single-minded drive to save the man she had once driven away, and had only just now received his forgiveness. "If I have to, I'll kill every one of those demons myself." Her eyes were alight, a thirst for vengeance and a desperate need to save Naruto her only emotion. "Tsunade, how long before we can expect replies from the other villages?"

Tsunade thought about it for a minute before replying, "The replies from Suna and Wave should be here within a few hours at most. River and Moon will probably take a little longer, since they're further away. I think they'll have a reply by late tomorrow however."

Sakura looked at the snake demon, her eyes boring into its. "Where is the hideout Anima is holding him at? I take it he's not dead yet, Naruto is too hard to kill even in a case like this.

The demon glared at her for a minute, then finally answered. **"His lair is on the border between your human Grass and Rock countries, buried under a mountain-side." **It stopped to think about it's answer further. **"If you feel the need to continue thiz mindless venture, I will not azzist you. You are on your own, human."**

Sakura nodded her head. "Please do me a favor Lady Tsunade. When their messages get here, if they are open to supplying ninja to help rescue Naruto tell them I leave in two days. I'm going to save Naruto, or die trying." With that, Sakura stormed out of the room, her footsteps heavy upon the marble floor.

"**That…iz one scarily determined human…" **said the snake.

* * *

The next day was a mad house as Sakura organized messages, supplies, and the many ninja who had volunteered for the mission. Naruto's capture had sent many of the village into a semi-organized bout of chaos. Several people were trying to dissuade those set on going from their mission, even as others strove to convince others to join them.

Of those against the 'insane suicide mission', Danzou and Tsunade's two advisors, were the most outspoken. "You can't possibly hope to save the demon vessel! You'll only cause the deaths of more Leaf shinobi! Lady Tsunade, please think about what you're DOING!" Koharu, the female elder begged. Her compatriots, Homaru and Danzou, nodded their heads in agreement. "We can not support this mission Tsunade!"

Tsunade glowered at the three. "Whether you approve or not, the civilian council have no say in this, and Root," Tsunade snorted in undisguised disgust, "is a purely internal affair, and likewise has no bearing on this mission. This mission is a NINJA matter, involving the rescue of a LEAF shinobi. It is MY responsibility, so either say something USEFUL or get out…"

Koharu stepped forward, raising herself up to her rather unimpressive height. "Tsunade, leave the Kyuubi container be. You can't honestly believe you can beat Anima, you'll only get mor…"

"Exactly how, Koharu, did you know that name?" Tsunade bent over her desk, hands supporting her upper body as her eyes lit from within. "That name, has ONLY been stated inside this office, and NEVER with you IN it. Tell me Koharu, exactly WHERE did you learn that name from?!

Homaru looked at his old team mate, shock clearly written on his face. Koharu slowly backed up, seeing Tsunade with blood on her mind and fire in her eyes. She shuffled toward the door as quickly as her body could take her, but a snap of Tsunade's fingers summoned her several Anbu guards. Koharu backed away from the Anbu, eying them wearily before turning back to look at the pissed off medic.

"I'll ask once more, Koharu… where did you hear that name…" Tsunade's eyes burned with intensity as she asked the question once more.

Of all the times someone had to barge into the Hokage's office, it had to be THEN. The door opened, a pink-haired medi-nin striding into the door and pushing an Anbu out of her way to get inside the room more. "Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade didn't have the time to answer before Koharu spoke. "I did it. I told and agent of Anima's about the fox youngling. I told him who she was, WHAT she was, and where he could find both the young one… and Kyuubi. Only he just took the young one at first. That was… maybe two days ago. Shortly thereafter, the Kyuubi noticed the young one was missing, and went in search for her. That foxes' clone arrived, we guessed about four to five hours after it set out to retrieve it's young, reporting of his own capture."

Koharu had thought she'd be more happy about the fox being captured, but to her surprise she had only felt a sense of loss in her heart. "Kyuubi nearly wiped out this village, and is responsible for my sons' death. The Container keeps that demon alive inside him, so I saw to it that my son and his family were avenged. The ancient woman turned toward the Hokage monument, her eyes gazing at the image of the Fourth. "Your life was lost to preserve a demons', and for that I am sorry. I'll see you soon… son."

Koharu turned toward the pink-haired medic, tears streaming down her face. Sakura stopped struggling against the Anbu within the room, an action she had started shortly after the old woman started her speech. Before anyone could react, the elderly woman pulled a hidden kunai from her robe and held the blade to her chest. "Good bye Sakura….. take care of my grandson." Koharu jerked her arms back, plunging the blade into her aching heart.

Sakura broke out of the Anbu shinobi's grasp, running to the woman even as Koharu fell. Tsunade came from the other side, but Sakura reached her first. Sakura caught the body, lowering it to the hardwood floor as she examined the woman's body, but could no longer detect any life remaining. Tsunade's other adviser, Homura, intoned, "Utatane Koharu has passed on." The older ninja in the room bowed their heads, leaving Sakura to cradle the dead body.

'_She mentioned the Fourth was her son, then told me to… and then told me to take care of her grandson. Does that mean… the Fourth had a kid…?'_ Sakura looked up, gazing at the Hokage monument through the nearby window. Something was… almost familiar about that face. _'Who could his son be? I didn't even know he had …'_ *Gasp* Sakura looked down at the old woman once more, then up to Tsunade. "Tsunade, Koharu was the mother of the Fourth?" Tsunade nodded her head, albeit reluctantly. "She knew that I know her grandson, the son of the Fourth?" Another nod from Tsunade. Sakura looked down at the poor dead woman. "It's Naruto, isn't it." The silence was all the answer Sakura needed.

* * *

Anima stood over the prostrate form of a heavily breathing Naruto. The now ten-tailed fox-human was a persistent bastard, if nothing else. Anima hadn't managed to break through Naruto's mental barriers yet, barriers long held in place because of Kyuubi before their merge. However, Anima had time on his side. **"You will fall to me Kyuubi. That is inevitable. The only thing left to decide is how much pain you wish to endure."**

The demonic thrall slid a hand around Naruto's neck, squeezing until breath could not come. A bombardment of mental images and experiences blasted into Naruto's mind, more memory than anything else. Each one felt like a blade being driven through Naruto's mind as he watched images of his precious people dying. Shikamaru, ino, Hinata, Lee, Kakashi, Gaara and a whole host of others flew through his mind. At one point, an image of Sakura found it's way to his mind, causing him to gasp in horrified panic at the image. He tried to bury his feelings, but by then it was too late.

Anima, having caught the sign of weakness, drove the images even deeper into his mind. Images of a broken, bloodied, and beaten Sakura invaded every corner of Naruto's mind. Experiences overcame his thoughts, forcing him to live out the memory of Sakura's pain, both from her side of the torture and that of the torturer. He felt her pain, even as he witnessed an image of himself raping her repeatedly, her sobs and pleas music to his image-self's ears. The phantom image stopped mid-action, before turning to make eye contact with the real Naruto still struggling to fend off the images assaulting him.

The real Naruto's eyes shot open, a hand wrapped around Anima's wrist as a feral cry escaped his lips, the false experiences were driving Naruto mad. In a gasping voice, Naruto said, "If you hurt her, you'll beg me for death."

Anima's response was simple, he tightened his hand even more around Naruto's neck, increasing the violent images cascading through his victims' mind. **"Not likely Kyuubi. Soon, you'll be mine, and I'll make sure the memories you see now become REAL**!" Anima redoubled his efforts, trying with all his might to break the half demon fox' mind. _**'Soon, very soon…'**_

Naruto lost all consciousness, finally passing out from the physical and emotional agony of the images and fake experiences forced upon him by Anima. His mental barriers slipped, and the shattered. Naruto screamed, the pain of his very soul being invaded by the parasitic creature that was Anima being more than he could bare. His mind shut down, relinquishing control of his body to his demonic tormentor. Anima could only howl in triumph. Kyuubi was HIS!

* * *

***AN* I'll explain why Koharu doesn't have the Namikaze/Uzumaki surname in the next chapter, for those of you wondering about her Utatane last name. **

**For those of you who might be trying to figure out the exact timeline on this chapter from when Naruto knocked her out at the beginning of last chapter to her time frame leaving the village to save Naruto: Naruto knocked Sakura out around 8am then left, Sakura woke back up close to 1pm. By 5pm, the messages had been sent to other villages to ask for help/look for Naruto.**

**Koharu(Naruto's grandmother) killed herself on the second day Sakura was waiting, and she planned to leave the village on the third day, bringing along all the ninja from Konoha and the surrounding villages(IE their allies like Suna), in their attempt to rescue the knucklehead(Naruto).**

**Communication in my fic is a lot faster than in the canon story, hence why three days was enough to send the call out for help and get everyone organized. **

**Anyway, that's it for now, and sorry about yet ANOTHER long wait. Work has been a pain for me lately, so sorry for my(dare I hope) readers/fans?**


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